Digital Media and Society Blog - Essay Example

Computer-mediated communication, which makes it possible for two or more individuals or groups anywhere around the globe to exchange information or interact with each other. Such networks penetrate into every continent but based on Internet usage, the Internet is the most ubiquitous of them, this means of communicating and interacting is most popular in Asia, Europe, and the Americas. The social consequence of this is that computer-based networks have made it even easier for people to interact, and this interaction allows them to participate in events remotely, no matter what the distance, without being physically present. Thus, we no longer live in unconnected and detached spots but a ‘global village’. Furthermore, this participation makes what we call ‘collective intelligence’ possible, and that is what is discussed below and how it impacts our lives.

What collective intelligence means is that the intelligence of individuals and groups can be pooled together and used in several powerful ways. The actual concept was propounded by Levy (1997) though it is a part of the spiritual concept of ‘collective consciousness. It was envisioned that networked computers would be able to enhance the totality of human knowledge in a number of ways – by “facilitating interaction among people…[and] promoting [their] participation” (Brand, 2007), and allowing the construction of ‘super databases’. McLuhan (1964) and Boorstin (1978) suggested long ago that we would be living in a ‘boundless global village’ because they foresaw the potential of electronic communication and the evolution of computers and the Internet. The former saw the global village as extending “or nervous system in a global embrace, abolishing both space and time as far as our planet is concerned” (Symes, 1995).

Building on from the earlier World Wide Web, it is evident that a new phase has been reached named Web 2.0 To take advantage of or ‘harness’ this collective intelligence, many businesses for example have moved entirely onto the Internet and are applying its principles to achieve what they could only imagine before. Thus, another feature of Web 2.0 is the building of special applications that “harness network effects [to] get better the more people to use them” (O’Reilly, 2006). One example of this is the online ‘Wiki’ encyclopedia whose information rests on user contributions (wikepedia.org) The ‘wiki principle’ in general is inviting for people to participate as it gives them the power to make useful contributions and feel satisfied. As for the quality of user-generated content, this improves over time in proportion to the number of participants. Another phenomenon identified with Web 2.0 is ‘Social Networking’, which will require another blog entry.

The underlying feature of participation in this manner, referred to as Mayfield’s Power Law of Participation is that there is a wide range in the level of engagement possible from simply reading to writing (see Flew, 2008). In between are actions such as marking as favorite, tagging, commenting, subscribing, and sharing. Furthermore, greater collaboration, which involves higher levels of engagement, leads to more fruitful outcomes of Collective Intelligence.

It is increasingly becoming the case that “Participation is not only possible, but it’s also necessary” (Brand, 2007) because we have become so accustomed to living in the global village that it is difficult to conceive, or in any cases even work, without access to the Internet, or even other forms of communication such as mobile phones. In their mundane lives too, many people for example are used to the convenience of ordering goods, shopping, or banking online. Read More