Here Comes Everybody: How Change Happens When People Come Together by Clay Shirky

"Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations" by Clay Shirky is an exploration of the ways in which new technology is transforming society, and how this can be used to bring about positive and effective change. The book is an exploration of the ways in which technology has changed the way people communicate, build relationships, and organize, and how these changes are creating the way in which the world works.

The core of Shirky’s argument is that new technology has changed the way we see collective action, and in turn, how people can work together to achieve their collective goals. He argues that, through the use of social networks and other technology, collective action has become much easier to achieve and that people no longer need to rely on expensive and time consuming mass organiations to achieve their objectives. This development has had positive implications for the way in which movements and campaigns are organized, and how collective action can be used to create change.

Shirky goes on to explain the implications of this shift, and how it has changed the way in which activism works and how people come together to achieve their collective goals. He argues that this technology has enabled the organization of resources, the coordination of efforts, and the mobilization of large groups of people, and importantly, has encouraged a new understanding of the value of collaboration. This ‘collaborative capacity’ of new technology has, over time, created a new reality in which collective action is normal and can be used to change the world.

Shirky goes on to examine some of the case studies and success stories of collective action, highlighting some of the biggest causes in recent years that have been successful and have had a huge impact on the world. He argues that this ‘collaborative capacity’ has allowed groups and movements to become much more effective in achieving their goals, and that in doing so, the cost of achieving such goals has also been greatly reduced.

Ultimately, Shirky argues that the collaborative power of new technology has given us the opportunity to create a new kind of activism, one with greater scale and effectiveness than ever before. Through the power of collaboration and collective action, citizens can now come together to create large scale change and actively take positive steps to create the world they wish to live in. He ultimately argues that today’s technology gives us the chance to build a society in which the long term collective good is taken into consideration, rather than allowing our lives to be dictated by larger corporate interests.

“Here Comes Everybody” is a fascinating exploration of the implications of technology on the way activists and citizens work together, and how they are able to come together in order to bring about large scale change. It provides a powerful argument that, with the right understanding and use of technology, collective action can be used to bring about social, cultural, and political change on a global scale.