Mass Amateurization

http://www.brandsareopinions.com/youtube-and-the-next-level-for-mass-amateurization-cash/

The Internet and the World Wide Web provides the general public with self-publishing tools that have come to change the way few professionals control the production and distribution of media. Blurring the line between professionals and amateurs is referred to as mass amateurization, according to Clay Shirky. Mass amateurization, Shirky states, "is a result of the radical spread of expressive capabilities, and the most obvious precedent is the one that gave birth to the modern world: the spread of the printing press five centuries ago".

When discussing mass amateurization, Shirky surfaces several ideas about professions and professionals, their role, and its connection to scribes and the invention of the movable type. "Most professions exist because there is a scarce resource that requires ongoing management... In these cases professionals become gatekeepers, simultaneously providing and controlling access to information, entertainment, communication, or other ephemeral goods" (Shirky 57). Information is spreading from everyone, and people are no longer relying on professionals for their information. Mass professionalization, Shirky says, is an oxymoron. Professionals are closely associated with specialized functions and a minority of members. Because of the scarcity of professionals, this placed value on them the same way scribes were crucial, hand-copying new editions of manuscripts that could not be performed any other way. Shirky adds that "professionals are always concerned with threats to their profession." (69)

So what are the threats to professionals today? Although movable type placed great value on literacy, what is mass amateurization going to do to the future generation and future professionals? Internet connection is making it possible for more and more people to control the production and distribution of media. the scarcity of professionals, or the few that are left, cannot seem to compare to the number of amateurs out there. They are exposed to more information and now have the power to post a blog that the news has not yet covered. The professionals also may not have immediate access to this information. For example, when it comes to journalism and photography, the professionals are up against bloggers and Flickr members, constantly producing, distributing, exhibiting, and storing information that jounalists would not be able to cover. The barriers to publishing have been removed and self-publishing is a larger phenomenon than I could have imagined.

In my own experience, this is something that can both hurt and help my future as a creative writer. Weblogs are an easy way to publish, with costs and without an actual publisher. Weblogs are known to be unlimited in its production, distribution, and reproduction. More and more people would be exposed to my work if it is available on the web with free access and an interminable number of readers to make it available to. However, this does not make me a professional writer. As Shirky states, "The written word has no special value in and of itself" (79) If I were to try and publish a physcial book, the amount of money and editing would be too much to imagine, as well as relying on readers to purchase my book. But i would consider myself a professional writer, a published writer. Writing on a weblog, depending on how many people read my blog, would not define the same thing.

The outcome of mass amateurization would be that society benefits from the changes that threatens the idea of professionals and their status. Professionals are not going to disappear, but value will be placed on public speech and action, as Shirky says, as a result of free publishing and more ideas will generate and be distributed to people if the tools are in the majority's hands. The future of media is only going to further this concept, bringing amateur film makers to YouTube and writers to blogs to share their ideas and news and work that will reach an audience regardless if they are professionals.

Shirky, Clay. "Everyon Is a Media Outlet." Here Comes Everybody: the Power of Organizing Without Organizations. New York. Penguin, 2008.