Thursday's class online

Folks,
Just to remind you, your participation here counts as your blog entry for the readings this week. So spend some time crafting your own response, and browse and respond to others' postings as well. Enjoy!

Shirky focuses mainly on the political and the economic in Here Comes Everybody, looking at the ways people are using social media to change the paradigm of publishing, for example, or to establish or promote a political movement. The link I'm posting here extends a different view of the ways social media might be changing our culture. Taming Spring Break is kind of a funny article, but it's implications could be profound. "Here comes everybody" could be understood in a whole different way when we look at this phenomenon.

What do you think about the ways this article might extend Shirky's analysis? What other examples do you see or have you experienced that either confirm the Times article or contradict it? How are social media changing your assumptions about how you live your life in public? Is that a good thing or not? The field for discussion is wide open--have at it!