According to Clay Shirky (a writer, professor and general internet guru), the amount of time Americans spend every year watching TV (the country’s “cognitive surplus”) is equivalent to the amount of time required to produce 2000 Wikipedias. He believes that now that the option exists for average people to actually participate in the media and not just consume it, we’re going to see a major sea change, and that the changes are only going to intensify as younger generations take the reins. In a bite-sized summary like that, it can sound like the same general web over-enthusiasm we’ve heard for nearly a decade, but when you think about the immense success of participatory media like YouTube, blogging as a phenomenom, Wikis and all the rest, that optimistic speculation seems to be borne out in practice.

The video is essentially a short lecture (16 minutes), but Shirky’s a good speaker, and he presents the ideas in an interesting fashion, so it’s worth the watch.