[iDC] looking for social media scholars ...

[Stephen Downes]

Hiya,

As an aside to the main avenue of enquiry (sorry)...

'Voting' is a mass phenomenon. It depends on bulk - the side with the 
largest number of people saying the same thing. It's identity politics.

The 'wisdom of crowds' (for lack of a good term) is not a mass 
phenomenon. It does not depend on bulk; exactly the opposite. It depends 
on people saying different things, having diverse opinions, offering 
multiple points of view on the same subject. Decisions are not made by 
counting but through the interplay and conversations. What is decided is 
not 'stated' by one and then emulated or repeated by others - it is 
rather emergent from the set of diverse actions and opinions.

What the media scholars have to say may vary...

-- Stephen

  Howe, Jeff wrote:
> iDCers, 
>
> I've greatly enjoyed lurking on this list for the last several months, but
> now I'm hoping you fine folk might help me identify anyone engaged in the
> study of social media sites, aka Digg/Reddit etc. for a book I'm writing
> about crowdsourcing. The chapter in question is a bit broader than social
> media, per se, and is tentatively titled, The Crowd Votes. I'm interested in
> the ways in which user feedback is influencing cultural production, as well
> as the capacity to be hacked. Is this mob rule or the dawn of an empowered
> consumerate or just a load of hype?
>
> Very grateful for any responses, online or off.
>
> Jeff Howe
>
> ---------------------------
> Jeff Howe
> Contributing Editor, Wired Magazine
> 4 Times Square, 19th Floor
> New York, NY 10036
> www.crowdsourcing.com
> W: 212 286 5275
> M: 917 992 6531
>
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-- 
---

Stephen Downes  ~  Researcher  ~  National Research Council Canada
http://www.downes.ca  ~  stephen at downes.ca        ** Free Learning