Hopper Analytical - Collaboration

Online Participation Headed Towards Democratic Utopia or Civic Demise?

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 14:59:06 -0400

On Thursday, the MIT Center for Future Civic Media as part of the MIT Communications Forum and Civic Media Series hosted a talk between Yochai Benkler and Cass Sunstein, moderated by Henry Jenkins and entitled "Our World Digitized: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly." The premise, of which I was skeptical, was to get Cass and Yochai to duke it out over whether internet participation was headed anywhere good. I was dubious of MIT staging a scholarly drama, but Benkler, Sunstein, and Jenkins have written three of the (arguably) most important recent works on the participatory internet, and for that fact alone, attendance was mandatory.

Many great arguments were articulated, all of which can be heard here. To nutshell it, Sunstein stayed true to his books stating that pervasive individual self-selection on the internet is leading to insulation and a lack of diversity. He paraded out the tired old The Daily Me argument and the so-called echo chamber effect. He suggests that democracy itself is at risk, as it requires diverse input, the exchange of unshared knowledge, and serendipitous encounters to function effectively.

Benkler refused to outright disagree with Sunstein, but instead focused on the positive effect of empowering individuals to participate online. He argued that individuals who perceive they can influence society's agenda become more engaged in civic discourse and behave more responsibly in this context. I took this to mean that individuals who feel they can make a difference are more likely to be engaged (vs. detached), develop meaningful arguments (vs. complain), and try to make a productive difference (vs. passivity).

While I agree with Sunstein's desire for diversity and serendipity and with Benkler's excitement over individual feelings of empowerment, I was disappointed that neither questioned the tired and quaint notion of the web being nothing more than a series of echo chambers. I wonder if either looks outside their inboxes to see what's really going on. Here is where Jenkins should have jumped in and schooled them on growing participation across diverse online communities, the wildly serendipitous (if not downright chaotic) information exchange found on Twitter, and individual interest (and subsequent sharing) expanding outward across every category of long tail media and knowledge. I would go farther to argue that emerging social norms in online interactions encourage diverse information dissemenation and punish the types of insular behavior that Sunstein and Benkler seem to accept as universal.

Undoubtedly, there are specific examples where echo chambers do exist, and link analysis shows narrow patterns of interaction in, for example, select political blogs, but I would argue that the internet is just a wee bit more than link spam littering the bottom of inflammatory blog posts.

I live-twittered the event. Here are some selected Tweets
(These are not direct quotes but rather real-time paraphrasing what I took each speaker to mean. Greatness is theirs. Mistakes are mine):

Benkler: What happens instead of a few elite that can set the agenda, we now have 3 million who believe they can affect their society
Yochai suggests that traditional mass media is more polarizing (fox news, radio talk shows) than the web's perceived echo chamber effect
Sunstein: How much serendipity we embrace depends on what we're regularly exposed to
Show of hands: 3/4 of the Bartos Theater audience have edited Wikipedia
We need a new model for understanding human behavior that builds in imperfection to allow for the possibility of true collaboration
Benkler: If you feel you have the ability to influence the cultural agenda, your concerns migrate from complaints to considered positional arguments
Sunstein, in response to what web tools should come to be: Stimulate curiosity. Once curiosity is triggered, it is very hard to resist
Triggering participatory activity requires, in part, for individuals to feel their efforts are needed and wanted
1st order diversity = range within our group (different people); 2nd order diversity = range across groups (different groups)
Sunstein: 4 probs in deliberation: amplify individual bias, polarization, early words initiate cascade, shared knowledge crowds out unshared

Idea Engines

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 15:07:03 -0400

In a long anticipated move, idea submit & rate engines are finally catching some meme-like popularity. They're certainly easy to build. In a follow-up post, I will tear them to bits for the flaws they introduce and the assumptions we make around their utility.

They do poke at some interesting aspects of Collective Problem Solving. Here are three:

* IdeaStorm

* My Starbucks Idea

* Ubuntu Brainstorm

Making Experts: The Future of Audience Engagement

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 15:00:04 -0400

How might media organizations better engage their audiences online?

Over the past year, I teamed up with several public broadcasters to try and answer this question. We collected lessons while rolling out online participation software at NPR’s Car Talk, KQED, Oregon Public Broadcasting, PRI’s The World and a dozen others. We are learning that the future of media engagement goes beyond invitations for listener comments. The leading examples involve much higher expectations from the "audience"; specifically, their partnership in delivering on more collaborative projects.

Take WNYC's The Brian Lehrer Show, who in late 2007 asked their listeners to share price inequities they found at local grocery stores. The results made national news, and not just for the novel use of crowdsourced journalism (turns out that the state regulates milk prices, and not everyone was playing by the rules). As the demand for richer and more compelling media experiences increase, you’ll likely see less "Come join the discussion" and more "Let’s solve a problem together".

Most important here is the word "together". What participants want is a team-oriented experience that is open, inclusive, and aims to produce valuable outcomes where they can benefit. While these co-directed endeavors can be challenging to conceive and manage, they can drive significantly more participation and yield real, lasting online value (they now have a nice map of beer prices across Manhattan). Successful initiatives give the opportunity for all to be involved, and for many to play the role of expert – whether as an authoritative voice, a creative problem-solver, a data gatherer, or even a tackler of basic tasks. The very best solutions have participants as co-creators, co-directors, and even co-owners of the produced results. In this more collaborative environment, the notion of "the audience" begins to dissolve.

These collaborative projects can involve varying levels of commitment from participants. The following list identifies a spectrum of media-driven initiatives, from those with the least individual involvement to the most.

Opinion & Preference – Extract localized knowledge and insight from your audience in the form of polls, aggregated estimates or prediction markets.

Basic Task Completion – Why not crowdsource a simple electronic task? Well, for starters, coming up with a compelling outcome and building a system to do it efficiently are two likely reasons not to. There are a few good examples of ones that seem to be working, although tying it effectively to media might be a different story.

Shared Experience – Collect narratives around unique themes. Inviting in stories effectively involves finding unexpected, yet invariably human common ground.

Unique Expertise – If you have a big enough audience, track down the needle in the haystack by seeking unique expertise. Proven ideas include troubleshooting car problems, soliciting peace corps volunteers, or getting hot tips on possible stories.

Research Data & Analysis – You don’t need rare skills to roll your sleeves and do some primary research or apply a critical eye. Audience members have proven their ability at spotting celebrities, measuring a city’s SUV density, and helping slog through the JFK files for conspiracy clues.

Creative Content – Accumulating creative submissions around a common theme is a time-tested method for getting media junkies engaged. Consider offering incentives and showcasing the best. Examples are endless: photos, top-10 lists, t-shirt ideas, show names, fan fiction, and full-on radio stations to name but a handful.

Ideas & Solutions – "Given enough eyeballs, all [problems] are shallow." Arguably the oldest crowdsourcing endeavor was the British government trying to solve the longitude problem. And since then, pumping your community for insights to address specific issues has inspired everything from the online suggestion box to trying to find a cure for Lou Gehrig’s disease.

True Collaboration – Bringing a community together, deploying varied skills over time in a dynamic and massively productive process is the holy grail for online participation. It's like applying the complexities of open source software development to the media industry. Three noble efforts in this regard include spurring organized community action, collaborative story coverage, and, of course, cataloging the World's knowledge.

What Motivates Online Social Participation?

Wed, 5 Mar 2008 11:02:36 -0500

Can the motivations that drive individual behavior towards online collaborative production be explained entirely by enlightened self-interest?

Defining Community

Wed, 13 Sep 2006 21:33:38 -0400

So the nagging thing about community is… what exactly is it? I feel compelled to ask, since the term gets tossed around quite a bit in the blogosphere and elsewhere. The term “social networking” was great back in 2002, but community seems to better capture the current ethos of getting together to do something meaningful. Or when referring to an online community, at least complaining about something meaningful.

Worldchanging.org

Wed, 1 Mar 2006 12:39:16 -0500

"Many of the solutions I and my colleagues seek out and write up have some important aspects in common: transparency, collaboration, an appreciation of science and a willingness to experiment. The majority of models, tools and ideas posted on WorldChanging encompass combinations of these characteristics."
- Jamais Cascio @ worldchanging.org from his TED Conference "Earthphone Speech"
Worldchanging.org

The Year of the Individual

Tue, 7 Feb 2006 20:17:26 -0500

David galipeau proposes his 2006 predictions with a spotlight on the rising role of the individual. Everyone buzzes about the social network, the collective buzz, the decisive mobs. But to make it all work, it's the inspired individual contributor who provides the driving force. What's that saying about raindrops and floods again?

His comment on a "new breed of entrepreneur" is especially poignant:
"[the entrepreneurs] won't chase VC funding the old school way - the barriers to entry will be far lower"
Reminds me of Paul Graham on one of his tears.

The World's Best How-to

Thu, 26 Jan 2006 21:17:45 -0500

I was excited to discover Kevin Kelly's online request for The World's Best How-to. Aside from the nifty responses (60), I am intrigued by his solictation of people's input on this topic. I secretly hope that he's thinking what I'm thinking. Kelly's penchant for knowing what's coming next (he founded Wired Magazine, the Well, and the Whole Earth Catalog), encourages me to read between the lines on all his curiosities. Perhaps he is banking on the impending importance and impact of our growing authorship-oriented society. If so, he may believe in the importance of facilitating individual creativity and better understanding how to best teach, encourage, fuel, and connect people. Either way, I'll keep reading his blog.

Lift 2006

Sun, 22 Jan 2006 23:16:53 -0500

A veritable who's who of A-list bloggers and technophiles will be coalescing for the LIFT conference in Geneva, Switzerland on February 2nd to discuss, well, stuff. OK, the stuff is mostly about emerging technology… and saving the world… and trying to figure out who has the next big idea, or the coolest sounding one anyway. Five tracks have been set up to make sure that all bases are covered. Books will be born. I wonder if star bloggers are as witty and charming in person?

Technorati Profile

Customer Innovation Awards

Sat, 14 Jan 2006 17:07:36 -0500

The Patricia Seybold Group, a Boston-based consulting and research firm, has announced their foray into the awards business. Nicknamed "The Pattys," the awards are designed to recognize those who have "empowered their customers to challenge their business models, co-design their products, and redesign their business processes."

While the PSGroup has had an enduring focus on customer-centricity, their new award, book, and themed weblog all seem to suggest they're placing bets on a surge of popularity around democratized innovation.

This new foray is more accurately a further push into the book authoring business, as Patty plans to feature winners in her upcoming book on customer innovation entitled "Outside Innovation" (not to be confused with Reverse Innovation, of course). Patty has co-authored customers.com among other business books.

ShareBoard 1.2.1

Sun, 25 Dec 2005 16:58:43 -0500

ShareBoard is a software experiment I began in multi-level collaboration. The software is a simple utility I wrote as a Konfabulator widget that allows a work team member to post a short message to be displayed simultaneously on all workteam computer desktops. The goal is to enable a creative group to collaborate and contribute simultaneously on (at least) three fronts:
1. Submit content to be shared
2. Submit feature requests as part of an integrated request forum
3. Submit code candidates as part of an integrated opensource project for the widget itself.

The primary goal of the project is to see how an overtly simple tool may inspire contributions on different fronts. After collecting initial feedback, I was inspired to make comments on complexity.

Stay tuned for version updates and more commentary from our learnings.

AIGA Boston Book Group

Thu, 3 Nov 2005 12:37:22 -0500

While I was Director of Community Development for AIGA Boston, my energetic and disciplined design co-conspirator Cyndy proposed a local design-oriented book group with the goal of stimulating thinking on design. Discussing design is not only great fun, but serves the additional purpose of helping me identify topics and environments that successfully engage professional designers. Together we launched the group and Cyndy went on to chair the program. She has successfully kept it going for two years and about a dozen books and counting.

The project has grown to have two groups and 20+ local design professionals. We've held our first public event at the The Institute of Contemporary Art presenting a guest lecture by Nicholas Blechman, author of Empire: Nozone IX.