I want to believe

... in the transformative effects of cognitive surplus, as laid out by Clay Shirky in his new book "Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age" Cory Doctorow over at BoingBoing is fully on board:

Shirky is very good on the connection between trivial entertainments and serious business, from writing web-servers to changing government. Lolcats aren't particularly virtuous examples of generosity and sharing, but they are a kind of gateway drug between zero participation and some participation. The difference between "zero" and "some" being the greatest one there is, it is possible and even likely that lolcatters will go on, some day, to do something of more note together. These sections are a warm and compelling rebuttal to people who argue that the net is a fad or a toxic waste heap, and his systematic argument is so well-reasoned that it might as well be a road-map for winning frustrating arguments about the net.

The rest of the review heaps praise on Mr. Shirky's newest work as showing us a way out of the forest.

I also read this much longer, detailed review by Evgeny Morozov in the Boston Review. Warning: this is not a warm and fuzzy way to start your day:

Shirky, of course, would never talk about viewers’ interests: that is not populist-speak. Populists prefer to make normative claims about the need to break up the traditional media without specifying how we should nurture responsible citizenship and promote good public policy in their absence. This just happens, apparently.

But the Internet will not automatically preserve—never mind improve—the health of democratic politics. Yes, a wired future might look good for democracy if some of the social functions currently performed by traditional media are taken up by new Internet projects. But that outcome needs to be demonstrated—perhaps constructively aimed at—rather than assumed. For populists such as Shirky, the need for considered political commitment does not even merit discussion. The triathlon must go on, even if the athletes become brainwashed and bigoted.

Dammit! I thought the internet was going to save us!!

I'll split the difference. Shirky's correct when he waxes on about the possible transformative power of the internet, the shift towards participation and creativity, the ability to network and organize. Morozov rightly asks what we're getting so jazzed about -- lolcats as the path to salvation? o hai, reallyz? -- and points out that any theory about networked media today still operates within a broader framework of power structures, discrimination, allegiances, etc.

Or, no matter where you surf, there you are.