Web as Cultural Commons

David Pogue notes that water cooler talk these days is as likely to center on new Web content as on TV shows or movies, and he links to a CNET story on the “top ten goofy Web cultural phenomena.” Looks like my Gilligan’s Island analogy wasn’t so far off after all.

CNET’s list is a strange one in many respects–I’d like to see one compiled by a teenager, and I’m not sure I agree with their implicit definition of “meme”–but the point is worth making nevertheless: more and more of our shared experience comes from the Web, and whether it’s good, bad, or ugly, it’s ours.

So let’s make some good stuff, and teach our students to do the same. They’ll teach us, too, which suits me fine.

One thought on “Web as Cultural Commons

  1. I completely agree with your last point, so long as you’re not suggesting we teach students to create the next Hampsterdance (sic)….

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