Sara Johnson
9/21/09

There are many similarities and differences between the two speakers, Godin and Shirky, on Ted.com. I noticed a few comparisons jumped out at me regarding two speakers; both of their speeches were about how the internet brings people together. Technology was used during their presentations. Images, music, and animations were both used to draw the audience in. Most people are visual learners and both Godin and Shirky played into it. There were also a few physical similarities. Both were male, Caucasian, bald and wore glasses.

Similarities were displayed although Godin’s speech was different from Shirky’s speech because Godin’s speech was inspirational, light-hearted and funny. He used the art of comedy to draw the audience in. His speech regarded the internet in a different light, as a phenomenon and the power people have to create movements. He spoke about planned groups or tribes: clusters of people that have similar interests. Godin briefly spoke about specific groups and ideas; his overall speech was very general. He did not nail specifics, but covered the whole realm of the internet and how it brings people together. Shirky, was very specific. He drilled down to specific subjects in a serious and confident message.

Shirky’s speech was about the history of the internet. He spoke regarding how the internet was a luxury to have, but now it is a necessity. People of all ages, creeds, and nationalities use the internet to communicate and connect with old and new friends. Social media outlets are used as well for connecting a large amount of people with each other. Shirky continued to speak in depth about earthquakes in China and how the internet is a metamedia (media about media). He also talked about things that happen, that the government can’t control. He also used specific case studies in his presentation. Both speeches were very interesting and enlightening about how the internet has changed how we communicate in our society but how our world communicates with one another.

• Composing changes shape in digital spaces, because it is faster to type papers as opposed to writing them out. Less paper is used, because if someone makes a mistake while writing a paper, they might throw the whole page away or they might use white out and make the paper look sloppy. But when someone makes a mistake typing a paper they can just hit “backspace” or “delete”. Another reason typing is better is that you have the choice of choosing any font you want to type in, and if you have horrible handwriting you can type nice neat papers with perfect spacing. Typing also helps the teacher read and grade your papers better.

• I think the internet will be better by making it faster, safer and having better content filtering. There should be more restrictions on information that is posted, the internet should also migrate world libraries into one official site. There should be software to block fault e-comers and websites posting illegal content should be fined and closed down.