Meet the Author
Ethan Zuckerman is director of the Center for Civic Media at MIT, and a principal research scientist at the MIT Media Lab. Additionally, he is heavily involved in Global Voices, an organization he co-founded that publishes news and opinions from citizen media in over 150 nations and thirty languages.
Previously, he was a leader in the emerging world of technology. Zuckerman founded Geekcorps (a technology volunteer corps that sends IT specialists to work on projects in developing nations, with a focus on West Africa). Additionally, he helped found Tripod.com, one of the web’s first personal publishing sites.
Book Basics
Rewire: Digital Cosmopolitans in the Age of Connection offers a realistic appraisal of how technological innovation, especially related to communication, has changed how people interact alongside a vision that future developments will enable a new form of cosmopolitanism accessible to an ever increasing share of the global population. Zuckerman’s own high level leadership experiences combine with significant interaction with scholarly material from multiple disciplines to form a hopeful volume that will educate a broad readership, encourage those tasked with crafting innovations that enable a more connected future, and inspire many to be more intentional in the quest to live as digital cosmopolitans.
So What?
While suggesting ways things need to change to create a better tomorrow on the macro level, Zuckerman also suggests practical steps every person can take to “increase the diversity of influences we’re encountering and make stronger connections with perspectives” (p.268). In our current digital world in which so many of our choices are determined by suggestions of friends or those with similar perspectives, this intentional effort is important. He suggests that an individual can rewire by
- monitoring consumption,
- escaping your current orbit slowly (taking a gradual approach to changing your media consumption habits),
- finding and following bridge figures, and
- seeking serendipity through curators (p.269).
Do you consider yourself to be a digital cosmopolitan? Why or why not?
Ethan Zuckerman. Rewire: Digital Cosmopolitans in the Age of Connection (W.W. Norton, 2013). ISBN: 9780393082838.