Real World 2.0

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As a result, many of the examples Shirky gives in the book are the usual suspects, the Web 2.0 stars that have already been picked apart ad nauseam by commentators eager to construct some kind of applicable business process from their successes. In Shirky's view, however, such analysis is unwise, and he puts much of the success of companies such as Wikipedia and Linux down to a fortuitous combination of elements even their creators didn't realize was so critical.

No Blueprint for the Brave New World

For example, he includes details of the starting points of both Wikipedia (a note from co-founder Larry Sanger to his mailing list saying "Humor me. Go there and add a little article. It will take all of 5 or 10 minutes") to Linus Torvalds' similar post to a software discussion group regarding his decision to create what would later become the hugely influential open-source software, Linux: "I'm doing a (free) operating system…I'd like to know what features most people would want. Any suggestions are welcome, but I won't promise I'll implement them :-)." Neither Sanger nor Torvalds had any idea of the huge implications of their questions, and Shirky is adept at analyzing the reasons for their successes—while providing a salient reminder for readers that the brave new world has no blueprint.

But even as it can be somewhat daunting for large corporations to face up to the grassroots assault on their core business models, it's also clear the current Web 2.0 darlings are constantly evolving, too. Wikipedia was able to harness group collaboration and collective action to create an astonishingly valuable and far-reaching resource, but such past commitment from users is no guarantee of continued favor.

Massively popular photo-sharing site Flickr faced revolt from users after it was bought by Yahoo (YHOO) and changed its sign-in protocol, while user-edited news site Digg chose to break the law in order not to alienate its users' collective decision to post information as an act of civil disobedience.

Look to the Future

For most companies, and for many of the world's citizens, such anarchy is unthinkable. In the book's final pages Shirky does not shy away from asking whether the vast changes created by the emergence of new socially connected tools are—on balance—good or bad. He's a self-confessed optimist, but also a pragmatist, arguing that the rise of groups of which the majority might not approve is not just a by-product of the tools; it's the product, too.

Shirky calls for readers to acknowledge the new reality and look to the future. "The important questions aren't about whether these tools will spread or reshape society but rather how they do so." His book is a compendium of smartly analyzed, real-world examples of just that, and it provides a good foundation for those looking to get a handle on the new ways of the world.

Helen Walters is the editor for BusinessWeek.com's Innovation and Design Channel . Matt Vella is a writer for BusinessWeek.com in New York.