So the way you feel about the rise of all the new technologies comes
down to the way you feel about human beings. If you're a misanthrope,
these trends are alarming. If you feel that most people are benevolent
and that they tend to share good information when given the chance, then
the rise of democratic media will strike you as positive. Whether you
approve or not, you're going to have to get used to it. The gatekeepers
no longer control media the way they used to. The future brings to
mind the words of James Joyce in Finnegans Wake: "Here comes everybody."
-- Steven Johnson"Here comes everybody: the look of truly
democratic media: rude, funny, creative, and fickle as fashion."
Discover July 2006.