The Rise Of Us (on Collective Intelligence)

The Rise of Us

How Organizations work in the Social Web

Kevin LimSocial Media Researcher / Blogger

University at Buffalo

OWN3D

“And, in just 30 seconds, Amazon sold out of all 1,000 units of the Xbox at $100.” - Patti Freeman Evans (Jupiter Research)

Collective Intelligence

A CI pioneer, George Pór, defined the collective intelligence phenomenon as “the capacity of a human community to evolve toward higher order complexity thought, problem-solving and integration through collaboration and innovation.”

Wikipedia vs. Britannica

Among 42 entries tested in both encyclopaedias, the difference in accuracy was not great.

On science:Wikipedia had 4 inaccuracies; Britannica had 3.

Web 1.0 = Browsing (passive)

Web 2.0 = Participating

(active)

What is Web 2.0?

What is Web 2.0?

By Tim O’Reilly (30th Sept 2005)

Blogs vs. Mainstream Media

Source: Technorati Weblog - State of the Blogosphere, February 2006 Part 2

•Blog is short for Web Log

•A website with regular posts

•Displayed in reverse chronological order

•Has links, text, images, audio, video, etc

•Has a conversational style of writing

•Focuses on particular area of interest

•A blogger is a person who runs a blogSource: Wikipedia - Blog

What is a Blog?Beyond personal journals

A blog…

•is easy to update (via a web form)

•automatically archives older content

•has a typical template structure

•usually has RSS feeds

•builds conversation (links, comments)

•lets you focus on content

What is a Blog?Compared to a personal web page

Direct 2 Dell Blog post about blogging customer support…

•Gives the company a human voice

•Disseminates information quickly

•Employees empowered to act

•Customers (users) can participate

•Managers can track public opinion

•Make connections visible

•Knowledge management

•* Markets = Conversations

Why Blog?

•The first Wiki, WikiWikiWeb, was created by Ward Cunningham in 1995

•Named after Hawaiian bus service, Wiki Wiki

•“The simplest online database that could possibly work” - Ward

•Allows users to easily create and edit Web pages using any Web browser

•Encourages democratic use of Web• Source: http://wiki.org/wiki.cgi?WhatIsWiki

What is a Wiki?

•A social network service focuses on the building and verifying of online social networks for communities of people who share interests and activities

•Most traditional social networking sites are “walled gardens” (e.g. Facebook)

•Trap user content to derive ad revenue•Can’t leave? Loss of coordination.

What is a Social Network?

Chung's firm now has virtual land and currency holdings worth about $250,000 in real U.S. greenbacks. (26th Nov: US$1 million)

To handle rampant growth, she just opened a 10-person studio and office in Wuhan, China.

Anshe Chung: "This virtual role-playing economy is so strong that it now has to import skill and services from the real-world economy.”

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_18/b3982001.htm

IBM in Second Life

Non-Verbals in Second Life by Nick Yee (2005)

Bailenson, J. N. & Yee, N. (2005). Digital Chameleons: Automatic assimilation of nonverbal gestures in immersive virtual environments. Psychological Science , 16, 814-819.

Media Richness theory

Daft, Lengel and Trevino (1987) state that the more ambiguous and uncertain a task is, the richer format of media is suitable to it.

Dual-Capacity theory

Sitkin, Sutcliff, & Barrios-Choplin (1992) claim that people will often choose a channel based on its fit with the task as well as on the symbolic meanings that it conveys to others.

Using the Social Web…

Blog:

Bookmarks:

Images:

Wiki:

Podcasting:

Reading:

Social Network:

MotivationsReciprocityPerhaps the most anticipated factor that motivates people to give.

ReputationThe willingness to help others can all work to increase one's prestige in a community.

Sense of EfficacyThe feeling an individual has that makes them feel that they have some effect on the environment around them.

NeedOne may produce and contribute a public good for the simple reason that a person or the groups as a whole has a need for it.

AttachmentThe commitment one has to the group, one’s utility.

Side-effectPrivate behavior makes cost of sharing near zero.

Amateurism?The central thesis of this

book is that the amateurism

introduced by blogs

(Blogger, Wordpress and

Movable Type), videos

(YouTube) and wikis

(Wikipedia) has eroded our

culture towards a dangerous

world where the distinction

between expert and amateur

is being obscured and only

the loudest and the extreme

dominate in the digital

world.

Profiting from social media

•collective intelligence - collaborative

•transparent - instant gratification

•non-hierarchical - democratic

•potential for passion - ownership

•open to public - real recognition

•permanence - searchable resource

But Why?Benefits to connecting people via Web

2.0

Thank you for listening!