21A: Reading Reflection No. 2

Assignment 21A: Reading Reflection No. 2

• 1) What was the general theme or argument of the book?
• The general theme and argument of the book was that instead of allowing television and other forms of media having a detrimental effect on consumers by taking up consumers' leisure and free time, recent active forms of social media have the ability to change people from "passive consumers rather than active producers."  In his book, Clay Shirky expresses the opportunities that could be missed out on while consumers are engaged in activities that are not fruitful.  However, by creatively using new media and communication tools available in our society, we have the potential to create greatness. 
• 2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?
• This book connected with what I have been learning in this entrepreneurship course because just as this class teaches us to brainstorm an idea and stick with it and keep building upon it, this book encourages consumers to become producers and to make a difference.  Just as Shirky advocates for the ingenious use of media and what we have available to us, this course advocates for people to start doing something with their time and what they are offered.   Shirky argues that online communication is changing the world today and his idea of the "cognitive surplus" expresses the idea of how much knowledge is left unused when watching television.  This class taught me how to use every moment of my time just as Skirky argues that we need to be utilizing our time wisely instead of wasting it.  For this specific reason, I believe that this book truly connects with what I am learning in this entrepreneurship course.  
• 3) If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?
• If I had to design an exercise for this class based off of Cognitive Surplus, I would have each student keep track of how much time they spend every single day watching television.  Then after a week of keeping track, they would need to analyze how much time total they waste on television.  Then I would tell them to track how much time they spend on interactive social media and other times of communication tools every day and then compare this data with that of the television data.  
• I would then tell the students to compare what they got done in their day to day lives when spending time watching television versus spending time on social media communication tools.  By comparing the two, they will be able to realize how different forms of media produce different or more effective outcomes.  
• 4) What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?
• The biggest 'aha' moment in this book for me was when Shirky used Jane McGonigal's TED talk about video gaming to compare time spent video-gaming and time spent in school.  McGonigal claims that online gaming has become a "parallel education system" as kids have spent just as much time engaging in online games as they do receiving an education.  As I was extremely surprised to hear these statistics and facts, it came to my realization that if children really do spend so much time engaging in online gaming, online gaming should be given an educational aspect to create a more prosperous outcome for people.  By using so many examples in our society today, Shirky really gives readers ideas of how to use their time spent on social media and online communication tools to make a difference and ignite a change in the world.