--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The future presented by the internet is…" description: "\"The future presented by the internet is the mass amateurization of publishing and a switch from 'Why publish this?' to 'Why not?\" — Clay Shirky" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f6/clay-shirky-3364_internet_the-future-presented-by-the-internet-is_1216351.png" --- # The future presented by the internet is the mass… ![“The future presented by the internet is the mass amateurization of publishing and a switch from 'Why publish this?' to 'Why not?” quote by Clay Shirky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f6/clay-shirky-3364_internet_the-future-presented-by-the-internet-is_1216351.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f6/clay-shirky-3364_internet_the-future-presented-by-the-internet-is_1216351.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f6/clay-shirky-3364_internet_the-future-presented-by-the-internet-is_1216351.png) > “The future presented by the internet is the mass amateurization of publishing and a switch from 'Why publish this?' to 'Why not?” [Clay Shirky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clay-shirky/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The internet democratizes publishing, shifting motivation from questioning to embracing creation, encouraging widespread participation. **In simple terms:** Internet makes publishing easy and open. Key Takeaway Publish without fear or doubt. Themes technology democratization creativity media Mood enthusiastic inspirational optimistic Type motivational inspirational When to use this quote - blogging - social media - educational resources - community projects Key Concepts participation open platforms content creation Questions to Reflect On - What barriers to publishing have you overcome? - How can we ensure quality in open publishing? A Different Perspective Quality control can suffer with mass participation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Amateurization Publishing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/amateurization-publishing-1459607/) [Internet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/internet/) [Internet Mass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/internet-mass-3708120/) [Mass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mass/) [Mass Amateurization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mass-amateurization-1459606/) [Presented Internet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/presented-internet-3708119/) [Publish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/publish/) [Publishing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/publishing/) [Publishing Switch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/publishing-switch-3708118/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Why not](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/why-not/) ## Related quotes > [“Mass amateurization of publishing makes mass amateurization of filtering a forced move.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clay-shirky/mass-amateurization-of-publishing-makes-mass-amateurization-of/) [Clay Shirky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clay-shirky/) > [The idea of changing and fixing the problem of how news is presented on the Internet has been recognized for a long time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-klein/the-idea-of-changing-and-fixing-the-problem-of-how-news-is-presented/) [Ezra Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-klein/) > [I can appreciate the idea that with e-books more people would publish, the work would be easier to disseminate, and that it could even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elaine-equi/i-can-appreciate-the-idea-that-with-e-books-more-people-would-publish/) [Elaine Equi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elaine-equi/) > [I certainly have opportunities many can only dream of - but in most ways I'm a typical girl in her 20s trying to forge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pippa-middleton/i-certainly-have-opportunities-many-can-only-dream-of-but-in-most/) [Pippa Middleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pippa-middleton/) > [I think most people played both variants and regular games. It was a period when variants were very popular and there were a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-davis/i-think-most-people-played-both-variants-and-regular-games-it-was-a/) [Fred Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-davis/) > [My Lord, I have nothing to do in this World, but to seek and serve thee; I have nothing to do with a Heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-baxter/my-lord-i-have-nothing-to-do-in-this-world-but-to-seek-and-serve-thee/) [Richard Baxter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-baxter/) > [Way back in 1989, I got lucky with my first published story when it was selected for the Journey Prize anthology. Then I got…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bergen/way-back-in-1989-i-got-lucky-with-my-first-published-story-when-it/) [David Bergen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bergen/) > [All poets write bad poetry. Bad poets publish them, good poets burn them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/all-poets-write-bad-poetry-bad-poets-publish-them-good-poets-burn-them/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [I began writing seriously in my mid-20s and didn't publish my first book until I was 41.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kent-haruf/i-began-writing-seriously-in-my-mid-20s-and-didn-t-publish-my-first/) [Kent Haruf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kent-haruf/) > [I'm not interested in writing for adults. I like them as people! I don't like the way they publish books in that world. Nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/i-m-not-interested-in-writing-for-adults-i-like-them-as-people-i-don/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [I have to declare in all candor that no one interested in being published in our time can afford to be so naive as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-curtis/i-have-to-declare-in-all-candor-that-no-one-interested-in-being/) [Richard Curtis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-curtis/) > [I want to keep growing as a writer. I find myself doing unexpected projects and sort of challenging my idea of where I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colson-whitehead/i-want-to-keep-growing-as-a-writer-i-find-myself-doing-unexpected/) [Colson Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colson-whitehead/) > [Once you publish a book, it is out of your control. You cannot dictate how people read it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/once-you-publish-a-book-it-is-out-of-your-control-you-cannot-dictate/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [A thing may in itself be the finest piece of writing one has ever done, and yet have absolutely no place in the manuscript…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-forche/a-thing-may-in-itself-be-the-finest-piece-of-writing-one-has-ever/) [Carolyn Forche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-forche/) > [I think that at a certain age, say fifteen or sixteen, poetry is like masturbation. But later in life good poets burn their early…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/i-think-that-at-a-certain-age-say-fifteen-or-sixteen-poetry-is-like/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) ## More by Clay Shirky > [ “\[N\]ew technology enables new kinds of group-forming.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clay-shirky/n-ew-technology-enables-new-kinds-of-group-forming/) [Clay Shirky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clay-shirky/) > [To have a discussion about the plusses and minuses of various forms of group action, though, is going to require discussing the current tools…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clay-shirky/to-have-a-discussion-about-the-plusses-and-minuses-of-various-forms/) [Clay Shirky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clay-shirky/) > [“Mass amateurization of publishing makes mass amateurization of filtering a forced move.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clay-shirky/mass-amateurization-of-publishing-makes-mass-amateurization-of/) [Clay Shirky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clay-shirky/) > [“Information sharing produces shared awareness among the participants, and collaborative production relies on shared creation, but collective action creates shared responsibility, by tying the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clay-shirky/information-sharing-produces-shared-awareness-among-the-participants/) [Clay Shirky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clay-shirky/) > [More interesting than thinking about what's possible in 10 years is thinking what's possible now but that no one has built.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clay-shirky/more-interesting-than-thinking-about-what-s-possible-in-10-years-is/) [Clay Shirky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clay-shirky/) > [“Digital networks are increasing the fluidity of all media. The old choice between one-way public media (like books and movies) and two-way private media…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clay-shirky/digital-networks-are-increasing-the-fluidity-of-all-media-the-old/) [Clay Shirky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clay-shirky/) > [Even with the sacred printing press, we got erotic novels 150 years before we got scientific journals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clay-shirky/even-with-the-sacred-printing-press-we-got-erotic-novels-150-years/) [Clay Shirky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clay-shirky/) > [Tools get socially interesting after they're no longer technologically interesting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clay-shirky/tools-get-socially-interesting-after-they-re-no-longer/) [Clay Shirky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clay-shirky/) > [Carpooling is important for urban density, air pollution and other reasons, but carpooling is not the kind of thing that actually changes the energy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clay-shirky/carpooling-is-important-for-urban-density-air-pollution-and-other/) [Clay Shirky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clay-shirky/) > [If what you're doing is valuable for people, they will find a way to pay you to keep doing it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clay-shirky/if-what-you-re-doing-is-valuable-for-people-they-will-find-a-way-to/) [Clay Shirky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clay-shirky/) > [Multi-taskers often think they are like gym rats, bulking up their ability to juggle tasks, when in fact they are like alcoholics, degrading their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clay-shirky/multi-taskers-often-think-they-are-like-gym-rats-bulking-up-their/) [Clay Shirky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clay-shirky/) > [Civic participants don't aim to make life better merely for members of the group. They want to improve even the lives of people who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clay-shirky/civic-participants-don-t-aim-to-make-life-better-merely-for-members/) [Clay Shirky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clay-shirky/) > [I would not hesitate to say I was addicted to the Internet in the first two years. It can be addictive, and things not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clay-shirky/i-would-not-hesitate-to-say-i-was-addicted-to-the-internet-in-the/) [Clay Shirky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clay-shirky/) > [Bureaucracies temporarily suspend the Second Law of Thermodynamics. In a bureaucracy, it's easier to make a process more complex than to make it simpler,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clay-shirky/bureaucracies-temporarily-suspend-the-second-law-of-thermodynamics-in/) [Clay Shirky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clay-shirky/) > [The more ideas there are in circulation, the more ideas there are for any individual to disagree with. More media always means more arguing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clay-shirky/the-more-ideas-there-are-in-circulation-the-more-ideas-there-are-for/) [Clay Shirky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clay-shirky/) [Explore all 132 Clay Shirky quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clay-shirky/) ## More Internet quotes > [The only people who think the Internet is a calamity are people whose lives have been hurt by it; the only people who insist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-klosterman/the-only-people-who-think-the-internet-is-a-calamity-are-people-whose/) [Chuck Klosterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-klosterman/) > [I enjoy upsetting the right people. I love poking fun at earnest censors. I want to push the bounds of what can be said…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milo-yiannopoulos/i-enjoy-upsetting-the-right-people-i-love-poking-fun-at-earnest/) [Milo Yiannopoulos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milo-yiannopoulos/) > [ The social \[media channel\] isn't about beauty contests and popularity contests. They're a distortion, a caricature of the real thing. It's about trust, connection,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umair-haque/the-social-media-channel-isn-t-about-beauty-contests-and-popularity/) [Umair Haque](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umair-haque/) > [Though 'Fat City' was written long before cellphones or the Internet, its human apparatus is state of the art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-dunn/though-fat-city-was-written-long-before-cellphones-or-the-internet/) [Katherine Dunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-dunn/) > [We became Homo sapiens not that long ago, from the scientific perspective, and we've retained a lot of our beast nature. We've done all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wangechi-mutu/we-became-homo-sapiens-not-that-long-ago-from-the-scientific/) [Wangechi Mutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wangechi-mutu/) > [Note to self: If you do not know how to spell a big scary spiders name, DO NOT look it up on the internet.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/becky-eisele/note-to-self-if-you-do-not-know-how-to-spell-a-big-scary-spiders-name/) [Becky Eisele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/becky-eisele/) > [I remembered reading about a disease called Leishmaniasis, which matched my symptoms. I'd always thought it was an old wives' tale - a sand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-fogle/i-remembered-reading-about-a-disease-called-leishmaniasis-which/) [Ben Fogle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-fogle/) > [The Internet lets thousands of total strangers collaborate to produce a truly hivelike result.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-thompson/the-internet-lets-thousands-of-total-strangers-collaborate-to-produce/) [Clive Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-thompson/) > [People are reading more and writing more because of the internet. So the virtual world is a way for me to listen to my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/people-are-reading-more-and-writing-more-because-of-the-internet-so/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [I don't have faith in the Internet, I have faith in people connected through the Internet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-gilliam/i-don-t-have-faith-in-the-internet-i-have-faith-in-people-connected/) [Jim Gilliam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-gilliam/) > [The internet is very democratizing in some ways, but it also has other effects.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-remnick/the-internet-is-very-democratizing-in-some-ways-but-it-also-has-other/) [David Remnick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-remnick/) > [One of the Internet's highest-profile companies, Priceline once dreamed of transforming the way consumer goods are bought and sold by offering customers the chance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-berenson/one-of-the-internet-s-highest-profile-companies-priceline-once/) [Alex Berenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-berenson/) > [Use Google Before Asking A Stupid Question.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muskaan/use-google-before-asking-a-stupid-question/) [Muskaan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muskaan/) > [“Some innovations just don’t attract enough economic or social demand: just as supersonic flight and manned space flight stagnated after the 1970s, today (in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-j-rees/some-innovations-just-don-t-attract-enough-economic-or-social-demand/) [Martin J. Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-j-rees/) > [Moveon is not a one-way broadcast media. The Internet, when used best, is a two-way media. We have a forum in which people can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-blades/moveon-is-not-a-one-way-broadcast-media-the-internet-when-used-best/) [Joan Blades](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-blades/) [Browse all 9,049 Internet quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/internet/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The future presented by the internet is the mass amateurization of publishing and a switch from 'Why publish this?' to 'Why not?", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Clay Shirky" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clay-shirky/the-future-presented-by-the-internet-is-the-mass-amateurization-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Internet" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clay-shirky/the-future-presented-by-the-internet-is-the-mass-amateurization-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f6/clay-shirky-3364_internet_the-future-presented-by-the-internet-is_1216351.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f6/clay-shirky-3364_internet_the-future-presented-by-the-internet-is_1216351.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f6/clay-shirky-3364_internet_the-future-presented-by-the-internet-is_1216351.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The future presented by the internet is the mass amateurization of publishing and a switch from 'Why publish…” — Clay Shirky", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Clay Shirky", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clay-shirky/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The future presented by the internet...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clay-shirky/the-future-presented-by-the-internet-is-the-mass-amateurization-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clay-shirky/the-future-presented-by-the-internet-is-the-mass-amateurization-of/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```