Great Yochai Benkler quote: "The critical shift represented by the networked information economy is that on the order of a billion people on the planet have the physical capacity to produce and communicate information, knowledge, and culture."
The increased capacity to create and communicate information results in an intensification of connection forming. If I look back, say ten years, and compare my information network then with my network today, the differences are almost beyond comprehension. "Back then" my network consisted of people who were geographically close to me and information produced by professionals (journalists, TV producers, authors, educators). Today, my network still includes those formal elements, but so much more of my learning now comes through connections I have with people from around the world. In some cases, the people are renowned thinkers and theorists. In other cases, the people are classroom teachers grappling with how to make a difference to 30 students each year. In the past, I did not have direct access to many of the experts (the experience was mediated by publisher or journalist)...or access to the amateurs (the experience was restricted due to lack of tools to create and connect.