Smart Mobs/Cathedral and the Bazaar

Those seven little words: More People Pooling Resources in New Ways.

In Smart Mobs, Howard Rheingold details his global pursuits of digital technology as transforming social trends across cultures. Using examples ranging from mobile phones and SMS technologies to peer-to-peer networks, Rheingold highlights how we are now beyond the step of building the tools: “Now it’s about what people use the tools to do.” It is truly a remarkable concept, for example, that a mobile phone is quite well on the way to being a “remote control for your life!”
Rheingold highlights the importance of trust and reputation in cyberspace. This is reminiscent to me of similar points that were made by Scoble and Israel in Naked Conversations–particularly with their example of the Savile Row Tailor who earned a reputation for being a trusted source first and foremost. Wikipedia operates under a premise of trust and reputation for encyclopedia updates (incidentally, that Sinbad error earlier in the week was surely a black mark if not a black ball for that particular contributor). Another example where trust gets you recognized is on group blog sites such as Slashdot. Whether in the physical or virtual world, trust and reputation are earned.

An important question that Rheingold poses is this: In the face of temptation to behave selfishly, how do people manage to cooperate? One approach to that question is by Marc A. Smith, whereby he states that “people who can put a little of what they know and how they feel into the online network and draw out larger amounts of knowledge and opportunities for sociability than they put in.” Sounds pretty rewarding to me. Another explanation would be what Corey Doctorow deems “sheep who shit grass,” whereby users provide the same resource that they consume. Napster in its p2p days would be a prime example.

Rheingold also covers a series of four basic laws that apply to the digital social revolution: Sarnoff’s Law, Moore’s Law, Metcalfe’s Law and Reed’s Law. Each of these laws expands upon the previous, landing at a point of exponential growth in social networks linked to computer networks.

The open source movement is a prime example of how digital technological advancement is benefiting from the efforts of many. In the Cathedral and the Bazaar, Eric S. Raymond (incidentally and admittedly off-topic, having seen the movie 300 just last weekend, in conjunction with having read The Cathedral and the Bazaar, I can’t help but draw parallels between the egos of Xerxes, as portrayed in the movie, and Eric Raymond as portrayed by himself. The self-congratulatory overtones were abundant throughout his piece) differentiates the bazaar model (that applies to the open source community) from the more traditional Cathedral model, where software is carefully crafted by individuals or small bands of programmers in “splendid isolation.” Under the bazaar model, where the more self-selected contributors the merrier!, the Delphi Effect yields a more reliable average opinion of a mass of equally expert (or equally ignorant) observers than the opinion of a single randomly-chosen one of the observers; seeming to work precisely because of the variation in the perceptual set and analytical toolkit. You get around the selfish interest problem here too, because developers are often scratching their own personal itch anyway. And while the problem of free riding will continue to be a challenge for the growth of the digital social movement, I think it is fair to say that “the collective innovations of millions of contributors” will continue to raise the ante across all digital social platforms.

The Search Continues

Source:
August 2009: How Google beat Amazon and Ebay to the Semantic Web, by Paul Ford

In the second half of The Search, John Batelle goes on to detail the further evolution of Google, spending some length on the intitial public offerring, and extrapolating with some speculation about where the technology-media industry is headed in the future. Oh the Places [We'll] Go! when the Web fully assumes the role of the next great computing platform! How simultaneously sweet and scary is the idea of a Google Grid??
Batelle raises the public/privacy issue in the context of reverse directories. It’s funny to think that people are generally okay with their information being publicly accessible (i.e. phone numbers and addresses), but it is not until a middle man (in this case, Google) connects those dots and makes it easy to identify that personal information that people begin to hit the panic button (since I don’t have a land line, I looked up my dad’s phone number for kicks); this phenomenon Batelle deems “the balance between a right to privacy and a right to know.” We can certainly all give thanks that the USA PATRIOT Act was renewed!

I also find it interesting that Google continues to stubbornly hold onto it’s nouveau (my descriptor, for lack of a better one) business model, even post IPO. When comparing and contrasting Yahoo and Google, Batelle raises an interesting distinction: Yahoo is far more willing to have editorial and commercial agendas, and to let humans intervene in search results. I think there is something to be said for allowing human intervention here. While I do respect Google for sticking to their guns so to speak, if they are to continue on the most successful path, they ought to revisit the idea of human intervention. There are only so many things a computer can do. As an aside on this topic, I think it is brilliant that Carnegie Mellon has established the ESP Game for tagging purposes. Why not let the collective human consciousness make a few calls and have a little fun in the process?

In quick sum, I think it is fair to say that media, technology, and search specifically are all merging into some kind of hybrid (look at Itunes and YouTube for an appertif). Google can dance the dance all they want, but they can no longer distinguish themselves completely from the media label. We are well beyond our more simplistic days of Google epiphanies. And we’re moving ahead at warp speed!

Naked Conversations–Part II

The second half of the book focuses more on problem areas of blogging and what not to do, to reinforce how to do it right.

One key point: Dialogue beats monologue. This point rang particularly true for me this weekend, as I sat, the passive listener during a time-share presentation. The sales rep did the talking, I did the passive listening. No sale.

Blogs need to be a two way street. I think a blog that does not permit comments for interaction indeed deserves a lame rating.

One point I disagree with Scoble and Israel on is the third party voice blogger. They say they have some ambivalence about this form of outsourced blogging, but still credit it as better than no blog at all. I’d say this form is less credible and might do more harm than good for a company.

I also think it’s somewhat confusing how Scoble and Israel acknowledge on one hand how corporate cultures very loosely define their employee blogging policies, if at all; while on the other hand, they encourage bloggers to know how far they can push the safety knob. How can one know how far to push without some clear definition on limitations? They are asking people to take some major risks when they might have a family to feed and a job on the line.

One area where I do think Scoble and Israel make a valid point, is in regards to deleting content. Bad bad bad! The strike-through method is much more transparent; and/or, if you must delete, a new post with a clear explanation of the deletion that has taken place is essential. Otherwise, it’s going to breed distrust. The exact opposite effect of what a blog is meant develop: trust.

Overall, I think Scoble and Israel make a strong case for how blogging can benefit businesses if they follow the basics (i.e. be transparent; don’t be BORING!); but one of the catches here is if you can be the first one to break blogging ground in an industry or a community, you instantly have an edge over your competition. The same sorts of benefits may not carry over if the competition tries to follow in turn.

Blogging is not the silver bullet. It is yet another tool in the toolbox for global communications. Companies should take care not to simply hop on the blog wagon because it’s the latest greatest trend in communications; they should, however, certainly utilize it as as supplemental tool if they can devote the proper resources to keep an active, transparent dialogue with an existent or developing customer base.

The Search

“There is no greater act of creativity than the formation of a good question.”  –John Battelle

As a fellow undergraduate of anthropology, I share John Batelle’s fascination with material culture. The concept of a database of intentions is undoubtedly an inherently valuable tool. While some might have poo-pooed Batelle’s pursuit of a story on “search,” I commend him for covering a topic that gives us better insight into who we are and what exactly we want as a collective consciousness.

“INTENT DRIVES SEARCH.” Indeed. Our intent at any given moment is so fleeting, but to have a historical record of all these little bits of intent, to be able to piece that together for a larger collective story, is indeed fascinating. Moreover, in a free market economy, it’s invaluable.

In tracing the evolution of Google Inc., Battelle lays out the lesser evolved predecessor solutions to the various problems of search;from Archie and Veronica, to the Wanderer, to Webcrawler, to AltaVista. One thing that definitely struck me about the history leading up to Google, was the lack of media attention on and/or general awareness of Bill Gross’ enterprise IdeaLab, specifically GoTo.com. The brilliant advertising concept that is to this day utilized by Google was basically ripped off from GoTo. It’s kind of a slap in the face to idea-machine-Gross that these two Stanford twenty-somethings were able to take essentially the same approach towards advertising and make it work for their now multibillion $ company (ironically, I use Google to do a search for Bill Gross to see what he’s up to these days). Considering they were originally lacking a business model for their product, Page and Brin have certainly come a long way from their Stanford or garage-based days. (*as an aside, if I am every handed a check in the amount of $100K to start a business of my own, pls note that I will be celebrating at a restaurant at least a couple of notches above Burger King. I mean, we’re at least talking Applebee’s material here).

PageRank, the foundational concept behind Google’s search results, offers cyberspace cred to sites via the number of links directly into the site, plus the links linking to their links, etc. From this process, GoogleJuice is derived. This is a point that Robert Scoble and Shel Israel also highlight in Naked Conversations in the context of blogging:

“Blogging turns out to be the best way to secure a high Google ranking. Google spiders out onto the network in search of change. Blogs get updated all the time…so blogs get more search engine attention…Google also pays attention to links…links also boost your ‘Google Juice’–in fact, nothing will boost your search engine standing better.”

While the patent for PageRank is currently owned by Stanford, and licensed exclusively to Google through 2011, I can’t help but wonder what happens after that? How much will the landscape change when PageRank is fair game? Only time will tell.

PenguinWiki

So I just dabbled in making some edits to the Wiki novel we learned about in class, A Million Penguins. I’ve utilized Wikipedia on nearly a daily basis in recent months (in part due to the high ranking results Google returns on many of my searches); but I’ve never gone to the length of editing any of the content before.

After registering with PenguinWiki, I boldly went where no AGuzman has gone before–to editing a Wiki! I took a stab at Chapter 1, and did some minor housekeeping:

1.) a misspell–I can’t believe they missed that! A blatant E missing from Code in Da Vinci Code. I am awesome.

2.) inserted the word “the” in the phrase “he was the only one there” in the third paragraph.

3.) corrected the spelling of exorbitant (formerly exhorbitant)
4.) I realized, after hearing “Da Vinci Cod” pronounced out loud, that the spelling was intentional–it’s a play on words relevant to fishing–the topic of the first chapter. Duh. Not feeling so awesome anymore. I changed it back. Quickly.

Naked Conversations I: Suits on the Blog Wagon

“It seems collaborating is human nature.” -Naked Conversations

After dispelling the myths that I was indulging in some kind of kinky reading these past few days, I’ve come halfway through Naked Conversations to find myself less than excited by the idea of corporate type suits harnessing the power of the blogosphere. Scoble and Israel take care to illustrate how the blogosphere can enhance brand image and reputation for a range in business models, incorporating several real life examples ranging from Microsoft to a small independent Savile Row tailor.

Here are the major points made by Scoble and Israel that boiled to the surface for me:

1.) Blogging is the most powerful word-of-mouth delivery system to date, offerring direct access to key audience, and overcoming the obstacles of global reach.
a.) blogs can be an equalizing force when dealing with media criticism (on this point, I would refer back to the Wil Wheaton blogging defense previously discussed in the post reviewing Dan Gillmor’s We the Media.)

2.) The blog is a trust-building mechanism.

3.) The idea is not to eliminate marketing, but to change it into something more conversational.

4.) To blog effectively, one must be transparent, authentic, passionate, and authoritative (a credible expert, so to speak).

Scoble and Israel encourage businesses to abandon the “interruption marketing” techniques of days old (and unfortunately, days still lingering) and to embrace the opportunities abound for blog outreach.

I can’t say I’m thrilled about the suits hopping on the blog wagon; but I’d be fooling myself to think that this is territory they won’t touch. Blogs are in the self-evident phase of truth according to Arthur Schopenhauer: everyone wants a piece.

Do I believe this trend is inevitable? Yes.

Do I believe we will all endure the growing pains as a result? Yes.

What prevents me from being a cheerleader here is that fact that I view blogging as a true grassroots activity; a bottom-up form of communication designed to give voice to the formerly voiceless. The thought of CEOs harnessing the power of the blogosphere to ultimately increase profits invokes a certain gag reflex; however, if done right, I suppose I could get on board with the idea. To quote Dave Winer (and incidentally, Nirvana) here, “Come as you are.” If you come to the table with transparency,authenticity, passion and authority, I guess even the most stingy of us can make room for the best of intentions. After all, as Mike Torres of MSN has said, “if [we] know you’re in the conversation [we'll] get respectful.”

My last point on this would be to say that as a smart player, use some acumen–recognize when there might be more powerful spokespeople than yourself, and let them do the talking.

Dan Gillmor Parts 1 and Deux

Dan Gilmor’s We the Media is an insightful piece of writing — a must-ready for anyone looking to stay on top of digital trends in the media and the field of communications. Gilmor does a stellar job of highlighting the various digital tools one can make use of in the Age of the internet, and he does so in a way that is simplified enough for the layman (and woman–myself included) can actually understand.

I am now comfortably conversant on such topics as Really Simple Syndication (RSS) and Short Message Services (SMS) where before these more esoteric terms were amongst those I considered to be beyond my everyday vocabulary. In addition to providing the basics, the sort of 101 one needs to fully grasp the specific communciation shifts that are occurring even as I type here, Gillmore tells the larger story of how the digital age is transforming communications at large.

Open Source Politics is how Gilmor defines s the grassroots journalism movement on the internet, and I couldn’t agree with him more. Anyone who attempts to stifle the movement will surely suffer the consequences of a weblogger backlash. Gillmor instead encourages journalists and the like to embrace the criticisms delivered by vocal citizens–to address them as the accurate or false statements they may be, and to graciously thank the person(s) who take(s) the time to advance the debate on whatever issue is being discussed.

One example of open source politics that Gillmore credits as innovative is that of MoveOn.org’s “Bush in 30 Seconds” contest. I clearly remember participating in this contest myself. It was an inspirational opportunity to participate in politics–a chance for me to put my own voice out there to a wide citizen audience, and a chance for me to hear from my fellow concerned citizens as well. A perfect example of the new trend in many-to-many communications. The internet has truly revolutionized participatory politics.

Another example I’d like to highlight from Gillmor’s book is his reference to the Wesley Crusher bashing and Will Weaton’s brilliant blogger defense. Wheaton saw an opportunity to debunk the myths about his true character by harnessing the internet to tell his personal story straight:

“In a situation like mine, having a blog is useful…because it allows me to get my story out.”

Eureeka. Exactly the beauty of a blog. Well, there’s that and there’s also the “gloriously self-indulgent, instantaneously gratifying and infinitely rewarding” nature, as Cory Doctorow points out in his Intro to Blogging. But really, in all seriousness, blogging is about average people sharing personal life experiences with each other. At one point Gillmor references “a folksy kind of reporting.” I would argue that folksy, being more raw, more relatable, indeed appeals to broader audiences. Moreover, Gillmore raises the point that citizen journalism is expanding the information pool when Big Media is cutting back on staff and resources.

And just to be clear, Gillmor is not remiss in addressing the challenges that such a growth area brings with it. Issues of anonymity and trolling; dishonesty; regulation (as with zoning and active pursuits by the “copyright cartel”) are all given their due mention.

From seniors to kids, across cultures from Chinese to Persian, Gillmor’s book is rich with examples of how Grassroots Journalism, by the citizens, for the citizens, is changing the world in which we live one blog post at a time.