The Social Benefits Of Converting TV Viewing Time To Web-Surfing

If you’ve ever lamented the time you’ve spent watching television sitcoms as wasted, Clay Shirky has an idea that may cheer you up about the future. As people spend more time online, Mr. Shirky suggests, they’re converting useless sitcom-watching hours into more productive endeavors. Buzzwatch reports.

In other words, spending one’s free time editing a Wikipedia entry does more for society than watching that “Seinfeld” episode with the “puffy shirt” for the eighth time.

Mr. Shirky, a technology pundit and New York University adjunct professor, recently published “Here Comes Everybody,” a book on how the Web and social-software tools that help people organize and collaborate are changing society.

... Of course, as Buzzwatch has learned—and as some readers have no doubt experienced—it’s amazing what you can get done on a laptop while watching a sitcom at the same time. Hear, hear!

emily | 6:10 PM | Broadcasters distributing their TV shows online |
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