Community Mobilization

How Companies can Best Utilize User Generated Media

The McKinsey Quarterly has a report that looks at how companies can make the most of user generated media. I read through the article and the gist of it is that a small fraction of the population is creating the overwhelming majority of the content. It looks at the reasons for creating content and posting as well as how the percentages of contributor / consumer play out. The article goes on to suggest employee wikis, internal idea markets, and collaboration tools. Aside from the graphics supporting the idea that a minority create the majority the article holds little insight that has not been covered countless times before.

Epidemiology in Games

World of Warcraft seems to have a software exploit that makes it a ripe environment for recreating epidemiological spread of disease. It seems that Professor Fefferman believes that the findings could be of great value to public health officials in developing the best way to manage the flow of information in such a crisis. “By using these games as an untapped experimental framework, we may be able to gain deeper insight into the incredible complexity of infectious disease epidemiology in social groups,” wrote the authors, Eric Lofgren, of Rutgers University, New Jersey, and Nina Fefferman, of Tufts University, Boston.

Internet activity in Muslim Politics growing

Internet presence in the arena of Muslim politics has grown 4 fold in the last 7 years. The internet is becoming a bastion of free and political speech in the Muslim world for those who seek power yet lack the capacity to reach the masses. "In some countries the Internet is the only infrastructure for political debate," observes  Philip Howard, an assistant professor of communication at the University of Washington. "No dictator has been toppled because of the Internet, but today, no democratic movement can topple a dictator without the Internet."  With the proliferation of information and moderate voice there is hope that the minority fringe elements will begin to have a competing voice that rivals the mass distribution system of messaging through Imams and Clerics. Openness and transparency are ways to help the moderate middle assert its majority opinion and concentrate attention on the issues of the masses.

RWJF Supports Games Innovation designs via Changemakers

About a month ago, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation kicked off the last of 3 competitions with Changemakers.  The current one, "Why Games Matter," seeks innovative new ways that video/computer games and related technologies can transform health and health care.  As the Second Life Community Convention winds down, it's clear that the opportunities for games and health to intersect are expanding rapidly.  At the Why Games Matter competition site people can enter ideas for game-based applications to health and health care and/or comment on any of the entries that have been posted to date.

SLCC Begins and IBM Continued to Invest in Virtual Communities

Well the good news is the Second Life Community Convention is sold out. The bad news is that there are still people who are itching to get in. Sorry folks - we will have details about next years event up soon!
I continue to be impressed with the IBM presence and activity in SL and how they are embracing the event and the medium making the most full use of the power of the system. The kick is that The American Cancer Society's Second Life Relay For Life beat them to it.

Periodic Table of Visualization

Continuing on the theme from yesterday, here is a great table of visualization methods laid out in the form of the periodic table. If you know and understand the various types of visualization and futuring presentation skills it is a great collection and lay out. It is the Visualization Periodic Table of Visualizations.

Fantastic Visual of the New World Clock

This version of the World Clock gives a stunning visual with consideration of our impact on the earth. In a number of futuring scenarios the presentation of the data is the most critical. There are side by side comparisons that allow us all to see our impact and extrapolate for ourselves the end scenario.

The Debate on Virtual World Economics Continues

In a recent Blog Post, Linden Lab, the owners and operators of Second Life set out their position on the economic maintenance of Lindex market as well as the economy of SL. In short - their goal is to maintain economic stability and currency valuation near L$270 : $1.00 as they can.This is a fair endeavor, but some residents are questioning the greater regulation banking practices in the wake of a Ginko Financial's folding. Even the Economist is waiting to see how this all works itself out.

The resident quandary is can Linden Lab pick and choose the regulatory issues it gets involved in? It is under pressure to remove all casinos from the space and residents are wondering at what point does Linden Lab become more of a governance structure than a simple purveyor of a digital platform. We wonder if government pressure - international government pressers - will force their hand to regulate banking on Second Life, or will it roll over and simply outlaw currency trading sending all transactions underground like other systems.

new home cookies.jpg

new home cookies.jpg
Originally uploaded by randalcmoss.

My dad is so cool! He sent us a basket of these fantastic 'new house cookies'. He told me he scoured the internet looking for something unique and interesting for us as a house warming gift. They were delicious!

The Web as a Prediction Tool

Good friend Andrew Zoli sent over a few articles about using Google and the web as prediction tools. As a collector and processor of unthinkable volumes of information Google would be an ideal entity to search for and discover trends in social behavior, statistically speaking.  one article, Downloading Wisdom From Online Crowds, takes a strong scientific approach to understanding the way that social trends appear and manifest on the web. There is a solid Wharton article that makes good sense of the value of using crowds and prediction markets.

As a futurist the potential to leverage the information processing of the trends is huge. The danger is in the self reinforcing nature of the web. Rumors, suppositions, and guesses can take on lives of their own and without  due diligence in fact checking misinformation can weave its way in to fact. Part of being an effective futurist is understanding the veracity of data, considering the source and taking a finer look at information. I get and understand the Wisdom of Crowds, heck I ever read the book. I also know that crowds have a way of influencing and driving trends. IT is understanding the various drivers that allows futurist to be effective prediction agents.