It is
tempting to want PatientsLikeMe without the dumb videos, just as we might want
scientific journals without the erotic novels, but that's not how media works. Increased freedom to create means increased freedom to create throwaway material, as well as freedom to
indulge in the experimentation that
eventually makes the good new stuff possible. There is no easy way to get through a media revolution of this
magnitude; the task before us now is to experiment with new ways of using a
medium that is social, ubiquitous and cheap, a
medium that changes the
landscape by distributing freedom of the press and freedom of
assembly as widely as freedom of speech.
人们希望网上没有那些糟糕的视频,而只有"病人如我"这样的网站,正如当年我们可能只希望有科学期刊,而不想看到情色小说一样。然而,媒体的运行规则并非如此。制作手段的丰富使得人们可以自由地创作速食作品,自由地沉溺在各种尝试之中,最终会有好的新东西脱颍而出。如此大规模的媒体革命是无法轻易绕过的,现在摆在我们面前的任务就是去体验使用这一新媒体的新方法。这一新媒体无处不在,成本低廉;这一新媒体传播新闻、集会和言论自由;这一新媒体将令社会面貌为之一变。