A media guru shows us how to use social media
intelligently, humanely, and, above all, mindfully.
Synopsis
Like it or not, knowing how to make use of online tools
without being overloaded with too much information is an
essential ingredient to personal success in the twenty-first
century. But how can we use digital media so that they make
us empowered participants rather than passive receivers,
grounded, well-rounded people rather than multitasking
basket cases? In Net Smart, cyberculture expert Howard
Rheingold shows us how to use social media intelligently,
humanely, and, above all, mindfully.
Mindful use of digital media means thinking about what we
are doing, cultivating an ongoing inner inquiry into how we
want to spend our time. Rheingold outlines five fundamental
digital literacies, online skills that will help us do this:
attention, participation, collaboration, critical
consumption of information (or "crap detection"), and
network smarts. He explains how attention works, and how we
can use our attention to focus on the tiny relevant portion
of the incoming tsunami of information. He describes the
quality of participation that empowers the best of the
bloggers, netizens, tweeters, and other online community
participants; he examines how successful online
collaborative enterprises contribute new knowledge to the
world in new ways; and he teaches us a lesson on networks
and network building.
Rheingold points out that there is a bigger social issue at
work in digital literacy, one that goes beyond personal
empowerment. If we combine our individual efforts wisely, it
could produce a more thoughtful society: countless small
acts like publishing a Web page or sharing a link could add
up to a public good that enriches everybody.
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