GainingCriticalMass
In the brick and mortar world are all manner of problems and barriers that are overwhelming to tiny groups – a big army helps to win the battles. Small groups too often can't get the bigger "stuff" done, that has potential to make a big and positve social impact. In such regard the problem is:
- It is still WAY too hard to find most of the people on the web that have like minded passion and interest, today’s technologies only allow one to find a relative “few” rather than the “many”.
Around the web one does not have trouble to find places with language that is warm and embracing, with talk about enabling increased participation, diversity, openness, sharing - so that in effect everybody feels motivated to join, participate, and be happy.
Yet with all this talk there are still lots of fragmented tiny communities that fail to gain bigger and better social impacts, exactly because they are so tiny and never go “main stream” to capture the attention of the larger general populace.
This is rather ironic because as just mentioned there is on the web lots of passion for coming together and making people feel that they can contribute - and there is also lots of talk about networking, connecting, social weaving, etc. – so one would think it would then be easy to have a large critical mass for this or that, and that it would already exist, but where is it? Again, there seems to be lots of tiny pockets of passion that are not connected and aware of each other’s “like minded” interests and passions.
Other people on the Internet have made this same observation and then take action, by starting a new Wiki page or Web site in effect claiming “this is going to be the ultimate ‘real’ place where we can all merge to gain critical mass for this or that” – and yet this dynamic in actuality creates one more fragmented island, which works against getting more critical mass for this or that activity or project.
Anybody have better ideas on how to find a lot more "like minded", and how to get critical mass faster?
* leave links to connect with other people at different places * leave links to tools that help connect * actually do some WebWeaving, especially WikiWeaving by WikiTrails.
There is a ingenious 'Wiki like' tool, called TrailFire. In the sharing option "wiki-mode" , it allows pervasive Social Annotations. It is nearly unnoticed. Let's use it to "defragment" scattered initiatives to get critical mass. WikiTrails are much more than WebRings on the fly.
fridemar 17:34, 2 August 2007 (PDT) embedding our conversation in the SocialCommonWealth.Com blog, where
* there is a link to a video introduction into OpenId * peers are invited to connect to a bunch of communities, by clicking buttons.
fridemar 18:43, 1 August 2007 (PDT) embedding the whole page in the SocialCommonWealth.com Blog.
Fridemar, thanks for these suggestions.
I think it would help to have some type of pilot project that purposely tried to do an exceptional job of documenting how long it actually took to get a specific number of “like minded” people inside a virtual brainstorming room, for a topic. I have yet to see that type of data anywhere on the Internet. Without it, how can one ever figure out which methodologies or mechanisms lead to faster and bigger group formation – meaning the time it takes to fill up the brainstorming room? MartinPfahler
From:Gaining_Critical_Mass_to_attract_support_of_Corporations g
Martin: Fridemar, I continue to read about this or that tiny community or passionate “tiny” group on the Internet, brainstorming the types of issues we have been recently discussing. In such regard what I see as a process problem, is all of the many tiny pockets of people with similar interests, seem to get nowhere, because they can gain no larger awareness of the general populace, thus no critical mass.
Other people on the Internet with related passions have come to the same conclusion, and then post things like, “this is the new place to come, for all of these many fragmented communities to join forces, to gain the critical mass” – and too many are claming such “come here to join forces” places, which itself is fragmenting.
I think a possible way around this current “on-line” dynamic is to get the support of a large corporation with deep pockets, already having a name the general public recognizes, so that a relevant effort gets on the public’s radar screen.
In my dealings with the mentioned corporate executives I am bracing for the day when they ask me, where is this community of Internet folks, having passion for these issues?” - and then, to be candid, one has difficulty showing it, because the demographic is so fragmented and hard to see. This is rather ironic because on the Internet I see so much talk about community building, network weaving, social connectors, in other words “lots of talk” about connecting people of common passion and interest – yet then it still does not seem to be happening – at least not in the types of topic areas where we seem to have cross interests.
If a larger group could ever get to the point of in effect saying in unison “we are here”, I suspect some large deep pocketed corporations would be willing to provide some relevant funding and support. Five passionate people brainstorming off in a corner is not going to impress these large corporations, they want to see big community numbers. If anybody has any ideas on how to demonstrate those numbers exist (such as people with interest in new ways of sharing early stage financial risk, and that also enabling better income opportunities), please let me know. MartinPfahler
