I am a little overwhelmed by some of Shirky's ideas presented in the book. Prior to reading this book, I viewed many of the Web 2.0 tools as exciting and brilliant, but also isolating. To me, the amount of time a person spent online sucked the life out of their reality. I always viewed the time spent on the internet as leisure time, unless a person was using it for business or educational purposes.

After reading Shirky's book, I can see that there are many reasons people form online communities, and not all of them are for idly passing the time away. I was not aware of how powerful these communities can become- the cell phone example in Chapter 1 was mind-blowing. I can't believe that so many people were so helpful and interested in helping out.

I also found it interesting that so many groups are forming online and then actually meeting in person, too. Chapter 8 describes the fifteen most active Meetup groups the year afeter the site launched. These groups include Witches, Xena fans, ex-Jehovah's Witnesses- uncommon groups in today's scoiety. I like the fact that people with unusual interests can find eachother and assemble.

Shirky's book provided a lot of insight into the digital world and really opened my eyes to all the possibilities out there.