In chapter one of Shirky, he speaks about the stolen cell phone. This story not only shows the power the Internet possesses but the way it can bring people together. Many of those people fought for the people who had had their cell phone stolen because they have been in similar situations. These people banded together all because of a small article posted on his website. The obvious mistake was that the phone was not returned to the owners immediately. It was wrong for the girl who was at least identified through a picture to try to pick a fight over a phone she was offered a reward for anyway. The scariest thing about this story is how easily one can be found.

Most of us feel like we create these private websites or social cites where we dictate who can see who we are. This is not factual at all. Many companies can make it past these websites “private” areas. The software they use will let them view any comments or pictures or statuses even if they are not your friends. Police even use these same programs to track and monitor where other people are because it gives them sufficient leads. Though we all hope that most police are using these cites accordingly no one really knows for sure. In today’s Internet world you can type in a name and found out addresses, family members, and phone numbers.

What is most amazing about this story is how these people banded together and figured out all this information just over a stolen phone. It eventually made news headlines on several major broadcasting systems all because of a single post that kept building it self up. It is absolutely amazing to see how just within fifteen years how far we have come and the things we can accomplish over the internet.

http://www.mlb.ilstu.edu/ressubj/subject/intrnt/people.htm