Generativity.

         I'm glad that I actually know what generativity means-a month ago I probably wouldn't have been able to define it well. But learning about it and reading about what makes something 'generative' has been really interesting to me. It's made me think a lot about how crazy it is that the most popular websites on the internet are generative. So many sites have to hire a ton of capable people to create a slew of content for them, articles and interviews and videos and slide shows and everything else. The world has no impact on Rolling Stone or MTV news or The New York Times, people have to be paid to do these jobs. But for Twitter and Facebook, people spend the majority of their time on these sites. They are more than willing to continue to generate content for them; no one feels like they are being taken advantage of for someone else's gain. Because in return we gain too. We gain entertainment and a form of expression.
         It's astonishing to me how just a simple idea of writing 140 character posts/thoughts or being able to make a profile about yourself and add or deny friends have turned into something so huge. It just displays how all people want is to be heard. All they want is to feel as though their life means something to other people. They want you to care if they tweet about their day, or post on your wall, or like your status. People need a medium to display who they are; there is nothing they enjoy more than being able to express themselves. Sometimes it can be a sick form of seeking validation from everywhere but yourself...but what can you do? The internet is addictive. It's just so interesting to me how people realized that. That technology and the human condition can go hand in hand. People just want to be able to communicate with each other, to see what their friends (ex-boyfriends, enemies, High School teachers, childhood playmates...pretty much every one under the sun) are doing.
          I like when Zittrain talks about simple things like playing cards and legos and duct tape all being generative. Because it took me back to realizing that this isn't just about technology. It isn't just about people who make websites and programs. People have always been creating simple things with endless possibilities; that idea has just become more advanced.
           The Wealth of Networks passage was a bit confusing, but I couple of points from it interested me. One point was how people shouldn't be selling the information they have, they should be giving it away for free. From an economic standpoint, this seems like the logical answer. Intellectual property is not favorable economically. In the case of Eldred v. Ashcroft they were challenging extending copyright protection. People are really just focused on money now and not really respecting those who have created great things. The line gets blurred between what those who create things deserve, and what should be done to make things more profitable.
           I really liked The Long Tail article. I aspire to write books myself at some point, so this struck a chord with me. I thought it was extraordinary how a book that almost went out of print suddenly became popular because of another book. The unlimited amount of things that can be bought and downloaded on the internet are exposing people to things they never knew they would like. There is such an immense amount of content out there for people to enjoy, and it's all at our fingertips. Just the entire concept of "the long tail" is so intriguing. The things that a person likes that they may think are obscure, are collectively creating quite a market. It isn't just the popular stuff (Like the Twilight books, or Lady Gaga's albums) that generate all of the money. The things that don't get as much recognition matter. The 3 simple rules that make the long tail able to exist are "make everything available", "make the price even lower than cutting it in half", and "help me find it". Everything that we've had to read this week just proved to me even more that simple ideas and rules can create astronomical successes.

Allison Volpe