Now, though, for the first time in its history, young people are watching less TV than their elders, and the cause of the decline is competition for their free time from media that allow for active and social participation, not just passive and individual consumption. The value in media is no longer in sources but in flows; when we pool our cognitive surplus, it creates value that doesn’t exist when we operate in isolation. The displacement of TV watching is coming among people who are using more of their time to make things and do things, sometimes alone and sometimes together, and to share those things with others.

Check out this great article from Edge.org on the “cognitive surplus” and how we can take advantage of it. Be sure to read the articles and watch the video too!

Edge: GIN, TELEVISION, AND COGNITIVE SURPLUS A Talk By Clay Shirky

(via globalglobal)