Public Parts

How Sharing in the Digital Age Improves the Way We Work and Live

By: Jeff Jarvis

Narrated by: Jeff Jarvis

Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

A visionary and optimistic thinker examines the tension between privacy and publicness that is transforming how we form communities, create identities, do business, and live our lives.

Thanks to the Internet, we now live—more and more—in public. More than 750 million people (and half of all Americans) use Facebook, where we share a billion times a day. The collective voice of Twitter echoes instantly 100 million times daily, from Tahrir Square to the Mall of America, on subjects that range from democratic reform to unfolding natural disasters to celebrity gossip. New tools let us share our photos, videos, purchases, knowledge, friendships, locations, and lives. Yet change brings fear, and many people—nostalgic for a more homogeneous mass culture and provoked by well-meaning advocates for privacy—despair that the Internet and how we share there is making us dumber, crasser, distracted, and vulnerable to threats of all kinds. But not Jeff Jarvis.

In this shibboleth-destroying book, he argues persuasively and personally that the Internet and our new sense of publicness are, in fact, doing the opposite. Jarvis travels back in time to show the amazing parallels of fear and resistance that met the advent of other innovations such as the camera and the printing press. The Internet, he argues, will change business, society, and life as profoundly as Gutenberg’s invention, shifting power from old institutions to us all.

Based on extensive interviews, Public Parts introduces us to the men and women building a new industry based on sharing. Some of them have become household name: Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Google’s Eric Schmidt, and Twitter’s Evan Williams. Others may soon be recognized as the industrialists, philosophers, and designers of our future. Jarvis explores the promising ways in which the Internet and publicness allow us to collaborate on how we manufacture and market, buy and sell, organize and govern, teach and learn. He also examines the necessity as well as the limits of privacy in an effort to understand and thus protect it.

This new and open era has already profoundly disrupted economies, industries, laws, ethics, childhood, and many other facets of our daily lives. But the change has just begun. The shape of the future is not assured. The amazing new tools of publicness can be used to good ends and bad. The choices—and the responsibilities—lie with us. Jarvis makes an urgent case that the future of the Internet—what one technologist calls “the eighth continent”—requires as much protection as the physical space we share, the air we breathe, and the rights we afford one another. It is a space of the public, for the public, and by the public. It needs protection and respect from all of us. As Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in the wake of the uprisings in the Middle East, “If people around the world are going to come together every day online and have a safe and productive experience, we need a shared vision to guide us.” Jeff Jarvis has that vision and will be that guide.

©2011 Jeff Jarvis (P)2011 Simon & Schuster

Useful for teachers and students alike

As an English teacher who spends a lot of time looking at changes in information flows and changing social and/or cultural values as a result of new media, this was a particularly interesting and sometimes thought-provoking read.

What I enjoy the most is the way Jeff Jarvis challenges readers to think twice about assumptions they make with regard to old-world concepts such as privacy. Forcing you to consider just one side of the discussion. The one usually put forward by a generation whose basic truths are to some extent being turned on their head.

Jarvis' openness in discussing his own mistaken insights in the past is refreshing, and allows us to get used what it is he's talking about. And for anyone who enjoys this book, the next logical step might be start following his blog.

It is not black and white but a shade of grey!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Jeff Jarvis has written a provocative book that will force us to have a serious conversation about the trade-offs between enhanced privacy rights and

Have you listened to any of Jeff Jarvis’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No

Any additional comments?

No

Thought provoking and entertaining

Very interesting to learn Jeff's current thinking on the internet and where all the technology may be leading us. Challenges my current thinking on privacy and the definition of "Public". Great audio book.

He knows what he's talking about.

Would you listen to Public Parts again? Why?

I probably will. It's just a quick and easy listen about topics that interest me.

What does Jeff Jarvis bring to the story that you wouldn???t experience if you just read the book?

It's his words spoken by his own mouth. Less personal interpretation since I can hear his own inflections.

Interesting view of out time.

I listen to Jeff on This week in Google podcast so was excited about this book.
Jeff does a good job of reading, I like his voice, but to me what really stands out is his view on how we are doing things now and how and what we expose on the internet.

A great book and I think it would make a great book club choice because it raises many interesting topics that have many views on.

An excellent counter-argument for public controls

Where does Public Parts rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Public parts is an excellent counter-argument to the strong privacy advocates surrounding the internet, social networks, facial recognition, and other challenges within today's society. Jarvis presents his points of view in well written, non-emotional (often found in privacy articles) and factual manors, both challenging as well as complementing privacy concerns. He takes the perspectives from many cultures, looking at their history & diving into why different countries are pro or against various elements of the digital age.

As we're constantly bombarded with the negatives of these technologies, Javris' Public Parts is a recommended read to help broaden our understandings & talking points.

Solid performance, interesting concepts

Well read by author. Content is meaty and has a researched view of history. Interested in new media? Read this.

Social media ideas

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

An excellent primer on application of social media to a range of business models.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Public Parts?

The examples of business applications.

Any additional comments?

I have a lot of respect for Jeff Jarvis' insights and his thoughtful analysis of societal trends regarding technology and social media.

Public Parts Has Great Incite

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I think Public Parts is a great read...
The author Jeff Jarvis is a great researcher and he translates the data he finds into a great read. Vast change like that caused by the internet is difficult to put your head around. Jeff has the skill to make this a little easier.

What other book might you compare Public Parts to and why?

Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

What does Jeff Jarvis bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The Passion in his voice are he reads his text.

If you could give Public Parts a new subtitle, what would it be?

The Freedom and Responsibility the 'internet

Excelent Food for thought

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This book provokes thought about the plus and minuses of life in public

What did you like best about this story?

Jeff Jarvis's thoughtful prospective

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, I hated to put it down

Any additional comments?

A great thought provoking look at living life in