First and foremost, I would like to personally thank Tim Berners-Lee for his helpful idea back in 1989 (otherwise known as the World Wide Web).
I am eternally grateful for this time-saving medium, which has come to my rescue on many occasions for a variety of needs. The "Web" is so ingrained in our lives that we would be hard-pressed if we found ourselves without it. I reflect on the manner we had to prepare for assignments when I was a kid or in high-school, and see myself hopefully awaiting periodicals in the library, counting my coins for the copy machine, and lugging a stack of reference books, encyclopedias, and God knows what else--simply to begin. Yikes! The beauty of the Web is the variety available of scholarly articles, factual accounts, and diverse information on which one could build their discussion, research, or use for whatever their agenda entails. At one's fingertips. Also, the availability of other like-minded individuals who can enhance, challenge, and encourage the follow-up we might--alone and tired--avoid.
I really enjoyed the information from McGonigal on the International Olympic Committee. This really brought gaming to the forefront and exemplified its far reach! I have a few "gamer" buddies and respect their obsession even more after reading this than before.The dependency on others in a collaboration such as this is crucial. Participation and direct experience are invaluable to perfect online collaborations of this magnitude.
Collective intelligence is not a new phenomenon; simply broadened because of the global implications and availability the Web affords its "spoilers."
Virtual Communities was of great interest to me, as these participants became more than online confederates. They became friends, online, through their shared interests. Sociologist Barry Wellman defines it this way: "communities are networks of interpersonal ties that provide sociability, support, information, a sense of belonging and social identity" (163). That sounds like friends in a neighborhood to me! Albeit, their community is online, it still requires the time, attention, and participation any thriving community needs. In truth, it may serve more people because of the availability from one's very home at any time of day or night. I find this fascinating; the idea that Natural hosts emerge in these communities makes it more inspiring. Many who might function more confidently in semi-anonymity might truly blossom in this setting. There is also a need for caution by those involved, but all those outlines are simply stated. This is a wonderful forum for people to explore and befriend others who have similar interests, and take it to a somewhat larger level than a tweet!
Crowdsourcing hinges on big business practices and is an important way to raise money, create enthusiasm for many, create substantial followers, bigger endorsements and simply motivate the masses. If I ever need to do this, I will closely research its possibilities...And I can because it's on the Web! Social Production reeks of capitalism BUT there is money to be made on free collaboration. Quite simply, none of these are new practices but the simplicity of using them for the masses (we simple folk) all go back to the creation of the World Wide Web and Tim Berners-Lee idea. I am happy that Wikipedia got a good word--I have always looked there for other sources and to see what their basic overview looked like, usually to good advantage. The three C's: coordination, cooperation, and collaboration all have a hand in the fluidity of web-based EVERYTHING! They are useful tools in any capacity (another C...) but have proven invaluable in all matters on the WWW. I bet Tim Berners-Lee never thought this would be the outcome--he was just looking for a simple solution. I'd say he got that--as did we--and so much more! And that's all Debbie has to say--for now.
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