Hive Mind Isn't Always Smart: Is it Time to Rethink "Sink"
(cc) It's Sinking by Yerba Argentina.
We've heard about about the "wisdom of crowds". But sometimes as we're all too well aware wisdom doesn't prevail. The challenge is to design sites and processes that can extract the goodness while avoiding the darker side of collectivism.
Lately there's been some posts about Mob Rule at Digg and how different sites including well known ones have had posts "sunk". In its early days Digg developed a policy that positive "diggs" were identified but "sinks" or negative votes were anonymous.
Jason Calacanis states you "gotta own your bury/sink" and shows how this lack of transparency could sink digg. LittleGreenFootballs points out that the flagging something as inaccurate can also sink it.
Jaron Lanier's article entitled " DIGITAL MAOISM: The Hazards of the New Online Collectivism" published in Edge from last May sent a warning about digital collectivism. Jaron didn't pull any punches when he led off with:
The hive mind is for the most part stupid and boring. Why pay attention to it?
Tags: digg | digital Maoism | social bookmarking | wisdom+of+crowds
