Recently, the great folks at Public Affairs News, which covers the UK and European PA industries, asked me to write a review of Clay Shirky’s outstanding new book Here Comes Everybody. The review has been published in their May issue, but it’s not on their website, so here’s a reprint:

Too often, books focusing on so-called ‘web 2.0’ seem an endless repetition of the same old talking points. But Clay Shirky’s Here Comes Everybody offers a refreshingly different, thoughtful and scholarly perspective.

Here Comes Everybody is full of insights, and is a must-read, especially for those who suspect that the buzz about the internet’s impact is over-hyped.

At its core, this is not a book about the internet. Instead, it’s really about social behavior and group dynamics.

Shirky’s conclusion that the internet has fundamentally altered the way people form groups and, more importantly, what those groups can accomplish, is spot on and well argued.

‘Social tools are dramatically improving our ability to share, co-operate, and act together. As everyone… adopts these tools, it is leading to epochal change,’ he writes. In isolation, that view sounds delightfully theoretical and detached, but what’s the practical impact?

One of Shirky’s central arguments centres on the concept of mass amateurisation. In the same way that the printing press brought the written word to the masses, the internet is equipping anyone with an interest with the tools necessary to take on almost any task. In public affairs parlance, we might call the same concept by a different name: democratisation.

Anyone who has observed the effectiveness of well-funded NGOs backed by hundreds of thousands of supporters has seen its impact. This, Shirky would argue, demonstrates the de-professionalisation of public affairs.

For sure, relationships are still important, but because the internet makes it easier for groups to form and take action, public pressure on elected officials is going to become even easier, more frequent, and more effective.

One can reasonably argue over whether this development will ultimately result in better government policy. But it is now beyond question that it is happening.

While specialists will always be necessary to help clients navigate the vagaries of government, when it comes to making an impact, public affairs practitioners have a choice: adapt activities in light of the societal changes that the internet is sweeping forward or be tethered to methods and approaches whose effectiveness will steadily decline in coming years.

(Cross posted at the day-job blog.)