Earlier this week I read the first few (6) chapters of Clay Shirky’s book – Here Comes Everybody. In 140 characters or less: Web 2.0 has transformed the way we produce, consume, and react to media content. And key driver of it is the science of collective action.
A good definition of Web 2.0 was provided by Tim O’Reilly. He describes seven key principles of this phenomenon namely web as a platform, rich user experience, software as a service, growth and use of data, ubiquitous software, leveraging long-tail, and harnessing collective intelligence. These principles are what drive the Web 2.0 and are key to the concepts Shirky discusses in his book as well.
Shirky discusses case studies that illustrate the characteristics of Web 2.0. The case for the stolen sidekick describes how one driven individual used Web 2.0 technologies – shared forum, social media, and user-generated content – to mobilize a movement, involve NYPD, have NYPD revise its own doctrine, and retrieve a lost phone (sidekick) all within 10 days (details here). While the story of the lost sidekick highlights how a driven individual can mobilize a crowd (especially through social media), the case of Wikipedia is more illustrative of the power of collective action yielding a net positive impact on society.
Wikipedia is built on a simple technological tool – a wiki. A platform that allows users to collaboratively produce, edit, and curate content. A wiki, in my opinion, is the microcosm of the characteristics of Web 2.0. It is a web platform that can be easily implemented on any web-enabled hardware, designed for user collaboration and content creation, and is easily adaptable to the needs. (Perhaps the DPI-659 class website should be a wiki to house past content, FAQ, and require student input!).
Shirky discusses some key aspects pertaining to Wikipedia and its growth. Since its launch in January 2001 Wikipedia has had monumental growth making it the 6th most popular website in the world (history of Wikipedia). Wikipedia operates solely on the basis of its users contributing, editing, and curating content. With no monetary benefit, what drives these individuals to contribute? Three things according to Shirky – vanity (having their name associated with an entry), utilizing available skill and time, and drive to do a good thing. Wikipedia inherently operates on the concept called the 80-20 rule – 20% of the contributors produce 80% of the content. Wikipedia’s community of contributors has the drive and will to curate the content and weed out attempts at vandalism within minutes. This philosophy keeps Wikipedia functional and avoids the age-old free-rider problem (tragedy of the commons).
I am a frequent visitor/user for a site called reddit. Reddit, is another example of a Web 2.0 tool that allows users to post news stories or general content within an area of interest. There are channels pertaining to specific subject areas (called subreddits) and users either up-vote or down-vote a posting. Like a mini democratic system, postings with the most up-votes rise to the top of the site.
Yesterday I came across a story on reddit that could easily be a case in Shirky’s book. In a subreddit titled TIFU (today I f***ed up), a system administrator posted his story of accidentally deleting a contact/mailing list that his company had spent hours and thousands of $ building. As the name prescribes, this subreddit pertains to people sharing their stories of failure or mistakes, it does not normally lead to action from readers besides sympathies. However, after posting the story on reddit, a user asked the Original Poster (OP) about how can he/she signup for the mailing list and help him out. The OP shared the link to signup for the mailing list and within 9 hours, the mailing list had more subscribers than the company had originally lost. Remember that the company spent a month building interest and attracting users for this mailing list, but with the power afforded by Reddit and its user community, the ‘failure’ of the Op turned into an opportunity.
“Here comes everybody” to save my mailing list!
The figure illustrates the growth in the list. The original story can be found here.
We are living in a more connected and smaller world than just a decade ago. The Web 2.0 technologies and advent of sharing tools such as Reddit and Wikipedia have made it easier for communities to organize, share information, and achieve collective action. Next week, I will continue the discussion to include the ongoing debate on net neutrality, social networking, and the filter bubble. Stay tuned.
Ali S. Kamil 