As I said in last week’s post, all of the readings thus far focus on the importance of online interaction.  Dan Gillmor gave a history lesson on the evolution of media and also looks at how the new media of today is influencing journalism. Both Gillmor and Robert Scoble and Shel Israel, address the importance of blogging and its influence on the way we communicate. Smart Mobs really looks at where technology is going and how through, almost any device, we will be able to communicate and survey within our communities and beyond… it was actually quite scary in my opinion. Wikinomics really is a culmination of the technologies we have discussed thus far; looking at how we are using them both socially and in business.  From social networking, to blogging and texting Wikinomics demonstrates how everything is connected to create a big interactive Web of many-to-many communications.

Peer Production

An important concept threaded throughout the first half of Wikinomics is that of peer production.  According to Tapscott and Williams, peer production or peering, as they sometimes refer to it as, is “what happens when masses of people and firms collaborate openly to drive innovation and growth in their industries,” (p. 11). Examples of sites where peers contribute are Wikipedia, Myspace, Facebook, Flicker, and the numerous blogs out there on the Web.  Additionally, Open Source software is also created through peer production. 

According to Tapscott and Williams, peer production is done through online collaboration or in the case of those highlighted in Smart Mobs, mobile collaboration. These peer production communities, many of which consist of volunteers, work together to create something of value. 

Tapscott and Williams in chapter 1, highlights how businesses such as Proctor and Gamble, use peer production and open source methodology in their research and development process.  Through the InnoCentive network, Proctor and Gamble challenges scientists from around the world help the company to drive innovation. Some may say this idea of engaging people from outside the workforce to help develop future products is innovative in itself, but others may view it as a potential hazard to the scientific profession… after all, can scientists live off of incentives alone?  I wonder if more companies move to this model will scientific jobs start to decline and as a result will scientists revolt the way the music industry did when companies like Napster caused their profits to dwindle.  Will scientists let big business get richer by outsourcing work to communities of volunteers or low cost workers?  Or will scientists prefer working in Ideagoras, or global marketplaces as Tapscott and Williams describe them in chapter 4, where they can participate in multiple science programs and not be tied to one employer.  In a sense it is freelancing for scientists.

Collaborating…Here, There, and Everywhere

Wikinomics in chapter 2 explains how Web 2.0 technology creates a worldwide “coffeehouse” where people can share, obtain and organize information.  Using tools such as tagging and RSS (really simple syndication), users can both organize and collect information that is important to them.  I really liked how Tapscott and Williams likened RSS to TiVo saying “RSS turns the Web into something like TiVo—a flowing stream of entertainment and news choices that individual users have asked for, perhaps stripped of commercial messages,” (p. 40). When I read this I instantly thought of Smart Mobs.

Howard Rheingold in chapter 7 of Smart Mobs, talks about a service called Upoc.  Upoc allows users, regardless of cell service provider, to join social networking communities that communicate using text messaging.  Members join the groups they want to communicate with; if you think about this it is sort of RSS for your phone, after all the member is receiving a flowing stream of information he or she selected.  I still wonder if text messaging communities will skyrocket the way Web social networking and blogs did in the United States.  As a user, I am still skeptical of communicating via text message to anyone other than my trusted network of friends.  My skepticism comes from reading news stories that address text spam and the cost of receiving numerous text messages.  In my opinion, I think text costs will have to come down, before Americans chose mobile phones over personal commuters as their primary way to socially communicate.

In addition to collaborating among social networks, Rheingold addresses in both chapters 7 and 8 this idea of citizen telejournalists.  These are everyday people, who through the help of mobile phones and wearable computers are able to capture and publish news instantly.  I got chills when I first read this and instantly thought of my right to privacy and journalist ethics.  If a journalist, no matter where he or she is, is constantly recording and publishing how are we as a public protected?  After all, an image could be interpreted wrongly by the viewer and in an instant a person’s reputation is tarnished forever.  Additionally, when I was an undergrad I was taught in my journalism class the importance of having multiple sources; I am somewhat perplexed about how in the environment described by Rheingold there are creditable sources.  I also wonder if we move to this type of journalism if the concept of hard factual news will be something of the past and if our newscasts will be more like a reality show with commentary than reliable news.

Collaboration is everywhere from the Ideagoras as described by Tapscott and Williams in chapter 4 to the virtual world of Second life, which they address in Chapter 5.  These communities foster conversation and innovation. Take for instance Second Life, some may view this as an online fantasy game where users can create parallel lives that are either like the ones they have or build a life that is far from the ones they live in reality.  According to Tapscott and Williams, there are a select group of Second Life participants who make a decent amount of money in this online marketplace. Second Life is really an open source game where users create everything from stores, to homes, to the cloths they wear.  It really is quite fascinating.

What will the Future Hold?

From Second Life and home grown news to computers physically becoming a part of us, as described in the final chapter of Smart Mobs, the possibilities are endless.  I am having a really hard time getting my arms around what the future will look like.  I wonder if when the radio was developed if our grandparents and great-grandparents were as  nervous about TV as I am about surveillance and cyborg and nanobots.  I have to say reading Smart Mobs was like reading a really scary sci-fi novel except the possibility of this book becoming a reality is hitting too close to home for comfort. 

As for Second Life, blogs, and social networking I think, when not used for evil, they are great.  Given that NetGen is starting to become an intergral part of the workplace think about the posiabilites.  Marketers can start attending virtual tradeshows in Second Life, Global companies can cut costs by particpating in online collaboriation rather than face-to-face meettings…the possiabilites are really exciting.  While most people will use these innovations for good, there are always a few that are not so nice.  Take for instance an MSNBC article that talks about Web radicalization.  The article addresses how terrorist groups use the Web to create virtual communities that promote terrorism.  The article also talks about Internet censorship.  I leave you with this thought: If governments feel threatened by people using the Web as a way to promote terrorism and other criminal acts should the Web be censored and if so, will honest business people and those seeking social interaction be punished by not being able to use the technology to its fullest potential?