--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The low cost of aggregating information…" description: "\"“The low cost of aggregating information also allowed the formalization of sharing [...].”\" — Clay Shirky" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a9/clay-shirky-3364_data_the-low-cost-of-aggregating-information_887808.png" --- # The low cost of aggregating information also allowed the… ![“The low cost of aggregating information also allowed the formalization of sharing [...].” quote by Clay Shirky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a9/clay-shirky-3364_data_the-low-cost-of-aggregating-information_887808.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a9/clay-shirky-3364_data_the-low-cost-of-aggregating-information_887808.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a9/clay-shirky-3364_data_the-low-cost-of-aggregating-information_887808.png) > ““The low cost of aggregating information also allowed the formalization of sharing \[...\].”” [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 low cost of gathering data enables easy sharing and collaboration, transforming how information spreads. **In simple terms:** Cheap data sharing changes communication. Key Takeaway Leverage low‑cost data for collaboration. Themes information sharing technology collaboration digital media Mood informative analytical Type technological social When to use this quote - business strategy - education - community building - media production Key Concepts network effects data economy open access Questions to Reflect On - How can we ensure quality in cheap data sharing? - What safeguards protect against overload? A Different Perspective Low cost can lead to misinformation overload. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aggregating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aggregating-1116356/) [Aggregating Information](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aggregating-information-1116355/) [Cost Aggregating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cost-aggregating-1116354/) [Data](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/data/) [Formalization Sharing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/formalization-sharing-1116357/) [Media](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/media/) [Organization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/organization/) [Sharing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sharing/) ## Related quotes > [Aggregating is only a part of what we do: HuffPost offers a combination of original blog posts (approximately 200 a day), original reporting, syndicated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arianna-huffington/aggregating-is-only-a-part-of-what-we-do-huffpost-offers-a/) [Arianna Huffington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arianna-huffington/) > [I'm a big fan of Mashable and TechCrunch and other outlets like that, but TechMeme obviously does an amazing job of aggregating.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-vaynerchuk/i-m-a-big-fan-of-mashable-and-techcrunch-and-other-outlets-like-that/) [Gary Vaynerchuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-vaynerchuk/) > [We are moving from sharing to cooperation to collective action.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clay-shirky/we-are-moving-from-sharing-to-cooperation-to-collective-action/) [Clay Shirky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clay-shirky/) > [A speech should not just be a sharing of information, but a sharing of yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-archbold/a-speech-should-not-just-be-a-sharing-of-information-but-a-sharing-of/) [Ralph Archbold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-archbold/) > [I am here, a citizen of this country, and I'm saying, 'Hey, the system failed me. I am a good citizen. I contribute to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-guerrero/i-am-here-a-citizen-of-this-country-and-i-m-saying-hey-the-system/) [Diane Guerrero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-guerrero/) > [I'm in relationship right now and one thing that I've loved about it is sharing the memories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-w-k/i-m-in-relationship-right-now-and-one-thing-that-i-ve-loved-about-it/) [Andrew W.K](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-w-k/) > [Professionals refer to the stages of the intelligence cycle as collection, processing, analyzing and sharing information. In most cases, the implications and significance of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-hurd/professionals-refer-to-the-stages-of-the-intelligence-cycle-as/) [Will Hurd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-hurd/) > [Reclassification is the best way to for us to preserve the Internet as an unfettered tool for communication and the sharing of ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-schumer/reclassification-is-the-best-way-to-for-us-to-preserve-the-internet/) [Chuck Schumer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-schumer/) > [“Life is always great, when shared in a spirit of love.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/life-is-always-great-when-shared-in-a-spirit-of-love/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [Everybody has losses - it's unavoidable in life. Sharing our pain is very healing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-allende/everybody-has-losses-it-s-unavoidable-in-life-sharing-our-pain-is/) [Isabel Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-allende/) > [When Chipotle asked me to take part in the Cultivating Thought program both as an author and an essay contest judge, I was excited…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-esquivel/when-chipotle-asked-me-to-take-part-in-the-cultivating-thought/) [Laura Esquivel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-esquivel/) > [“A complete sharing between two people is an impossibility and whenever it seems, nevertheless, to exist, it is a narrowing, a mutual agreement which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/a-complete-sharing-between-two-people-is-an-impossibility-and/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [Regardless of what I do, whether I write a book or whether I act or whether I host, I'll always do stand-up comedy because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howie-mandel/regardless-of-what-i-do-whether-i-write-a-book-or-whether-i-act-or/) [Howie Mandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howie-mandel/) > [There are a lot of kids out there copying and distributing movies - not because they care about seeing the movies or sharing them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-perry-barlow/there-are-a-lot-of-kids-out-there-copying-and-distributing-movies-not/) [John Perry Barlow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-perry-barlow/) > [“If you are not sharing with each other, talking with each other, what do you have?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-taylor/if-you-are-not-sharing-with-each-other-talking-with-each-other-what/) [Craig Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-taylor/) ## 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 Data quotes > [Information is money, but data is squat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-llama-butler/information-is-money-but-data-is-squat/) [Angela Llama-Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-llama-butler/) > [“ data analytics consulting Perceptive Analtyics is a data analytic company and a trusted advisor to its clients across domains. Click to know more”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastianmax/data-analytics-consulting-perceptive-analtyics-is-a-data-analytic/) [SebastianMax](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastianmax/) > [The information nation took their clues from all the sound bite gluttons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rem/the-information-nation-took-their-clues-from-all-the-sound-bite/) [REM](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rem/) > [Sometimes I am a collector of data, and only a collector, and am likely to be gross and miserly, piling up notes, pleased with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-fort/sometimes-i-am-a-collector-of-data-and-only-a-collector-and-am-likely/) [Charles Fort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-fort/) > [But actually theory is very practical. Gravity is a theory, for example. It allows you to predict that if you step off a cliff…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clayton-christensen/but-actually-theory-is-very-practical-gravity-is-a-theory-for-example/) [Clayton Christensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clayton-christensen/) > [Statistics are like miniskirts: They give you good ideas but hide the important things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ebbe-skovdahl/statistics-are-like-miniskirts-they-give-you-good-ideas-but-hide-the/) [Ebbe Skovdahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ebbe-skovdahl/) > [Unlike return, however, risk is no more quantifiable at the end of an investment that it was at its beginning. Risk simply cannot be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-klarman/unlike-return-however-risk-is-no-more-quantifiable-at-the-end-of-an/) [Seth Klarman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-klarman/) > [Finding patterns is easy in any kind of data-rich environment; that's what mediocre gamblers do. The key is in determining whether the patterns represent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nate-silver/finding-patterns-is-easy-in-any-kind-of-data-rich-environment-that-s/) [Nate Silver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nate-silver/) > [ \[Brazil\] went to the UN and said, "We need new standards for this." We need to take a look at what they're calling "data… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-snowden/brazil-went-to-the-un-and-said-we-need-new-standards-for-this-we-need/) [Edward Snowden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-snowden/) > [We're living in a technological world. You cannot tell me we can't do a better job getting that information.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/we-re-living-in-a-technological-world-you-cannot-tell-me-we-can-t-do/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [Web users ultimately want to get at data quickly and easily. They don't care as much about attractive sites and pretty design.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-berners-lee/web-users-ultimately-want-to-get-at-data-quickly-and-easily-they-don/) [Tim Berners-Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-berners-lee/) > [You cannot have 300-some million Americans - and really, right, the global citizenry be at risk of having their phone conversations intercepted with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-lieu/you-cannot-have-300-some-million-americans-and-really-right-the/) [Ted Lieu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-lieu/) > [An important finding is that by determining the genome sequences of an entire family, one can identify many DNA sequencing errors and thus greatly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leroy-hood/an-important-finding-is-that-by-determining-the-genome-sequences-of/) [Leroy Hood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leroy-hood/) > [While it's wonderful that investors have access to all the data now available to them, it has become a full-time job to sift through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-bartiromo/while-it-s-wonderful-that-investors-have-access-to-all-the-data-now/) [Maria Bartiromo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-bartiromo/) > [“The amount of stored information grows four times faster than the world economy, while the processing power of computers grows nine times faster. Little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viktor-mayer-sch-nberger/the-amount-of-stored-information-grows-four-times-faster-than-the/) [Viktor Mayer-Schönberger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viktor-mayer-sch-nberger/) [Browse all 3,134 Data quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/data/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The low cost of aggregating information also allowed the formalization of sharing [...].”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Clay Shirky" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clay-shirky/the-low-cost-of-aggregating-information-also-allowed-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Data" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clay-shirky/the-low-cost-of-aggregating-information-also-allowed-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a9/clay-shirky-3364_data_the-low-cost-of-aggregating-information_887808.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a9/clay-shirky-3364_data_the-low-cost-of-aggregating-information_887808.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a9/clay-shirky-3364_data_the-low-cost-of-aggregating-information_887808.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The low cost of aggregating information also allowed the formalization of sharing [...].” — 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 low cost of aggregating information...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clay-shirky/the-low-cost-of-aggregating-information-also-allowed-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clay-shirky/the-low-cost-of-aggregating-information-also-allowed-the/#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 } } ] } ```