"They're not talking to you"

From Clay Shirky's "Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing without Organizations":

"Who would want to be a publisher with only a dozen readers? It's also easy to see why the audience for most user-generated content is so small, filled as it is with narrow, spelling-challenged observations about going to the mall and pick out clothes. And it's easy to deride this sort of thing as self-absorbed publishing -- why would anyone put such drivel out in public?

It's simple. They're not talking to you.

We misread these seemingly inane posts because we're so unused to seeing written material in public that isn't intended for us."

This is a fascinating book that takes an academic --but easy to read-- look at social networking and how it's changing society.