the wealth of networks by yochai benkler

The second argument pursued by the author is that of the societies with rising democratic abilities through internet access.

Therefore, one of the main thoughts of the book author concerns the incredible nature of the internet that allows people to participate in a more liberal economy. Such a factor suggests an increased level of cooperation between the individuals using the internet.ĭue to this, open encyclopedias and free software exist only based on multiple people’s efforts to create and support it (Benkler, 2007).

Nowadays, according to the author, the same sector is predominantly decentralized and nonproprietary. Although the information sector existed earlier, it largely depended on the government or other external funding. The author argues that a new type of economy is rising that is based on the information and cultural products instead of material goods. Due to the reinforcing effects of networks is web based politics really contributing to a sustained democratic system? What the book of Benkler shows is that the internet revolutions provide many opportunities to study institutional diversity in progress.The first valuable point that Benkler makes in the chapter is about the emergence of the networked information economy and the new chances that it provides to society. Geert Wilders in the Netherlands) might get more attention, but those with a more nuanced story are clicked away. Is the polarization and populism in politics in different regions in the world affected by this digital involvement? Those who are talented in creating effective sound bites instead of content (e.g. This leads me to wonder how this affect opinion formation and politics. Susan Boyle) become very popular, while most are not consumed. Search machines filter the internet, and we see the phenomena that a few blogs (not this one :-)), websites or youtube videos (e.g. The fact that many voices can be heard does not mean that every voice is heard. This leads obviously to conflicts in how to organize this, especially in the protection of copyrights and intellectual property. Now everybody can express their opinions and contribute to cultural production.

In the past mass media was controlled by a few people who could control the signal. Yochai Benkler wrote the wonderful book “The Wealth of Networks” which discusses various consequences of the increasing use of internet and other digital processes in economic development, creative production and politics.

The wealth of networks by yochai benkler