{"id":3069,"date":"2011-05-28T21:38:19","date_gmt":"2011-05-28T21:38:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/?p=3069"},"modified":"2011-05-28T21:38:19","modified_gmt":"2011-05-28T21:38:19","slug":"facebook-the-social-accelerator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/2011\/05\/facebook-the-social-accelerator\/","title":{"rendered":"Facebook: The Social Accelerator?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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image by ericaglasier.com @EricaGlasier 
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We live in a world of accelerating change. As our communication technologies evolve, it becomes easier to connect more and more of us around the planet to each other. The web collapses space and time, dissolves geographic boundaries, and gives us windows into each other\u2019s worlds.This is causing shifts in the way individuals perceive themselves, their immediate relationships with friends and communities, and the context of how they relate to society at large. <\/p>\n

David Kirkpatrick, author of The Facebook Effect<\/a>, prognosticates, \u201cJust by increasing the efficiency of communication and reducing friction in relationships between people, particularly on a global basis, it will lead to a more integrated sense of humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the potential for an evolutionary leap is there, it\u2019s up to us to raise our awareness of the possibilities. Could global connectivity empower human and societal development? Could it help us form cross-cultural relationships, find our tribes, and build thriving communities? Is it possible to design towards sustainability and resilience?<\/p>\n

Below are some thoughts from our interviewees for The Future of Facebook Project<\/a>, a 6-part series covering the risks and opportunities social media offers us as a global society. The themes below \u2013 social network analysis, filter bubbles, collective intelligence, and aspirational futures \u2013 will be covered in the upcoming Future of Facebook: Society<\/em> focus video.<\/p>\n

Harnessing the Value of Our Social Graph<\/strong><\/p>\n

Facebook calls the map of your connections the \u201csocial graph,\u201d which is where the value of the platform is based. We\u2019re beginning to get a better sense of the relationships between people, the shared interests or beliefs that bind them, and the sentiment around the decisions they make.<\/p>\n

But, we still haven\u2019t scratched the surface of how to leverage our social graph and build effective networks.<\/p>\n

How do we build a social graph that bring us greater value and benefit? How do we form relationships that create more opportunities in our lives to succeed and grow?<\/p>\n

Social network analyst (SNA) Valdis Krebs<\/a> suggests building networks that bring in a diversity of perspectives from multiple fields and interest areas: \u201cIf you sit at this interesting juncture between many information flows and knowledge exchanges, you\u2019re in a good spot to see innovation and share it with all the groups you\u2019re connected to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Krebs explains the value of \u201cnetwork weaving,\u201d the practice of cultivating the connections in your social graph: \u201cYou add in a few key connections that aren\u2019t visible right now, and all of a sudden you go from a moderately efficient network to a very efficient network.\u201d<\/p>\n

As more people realize the untapped wealth contained in their networks, expect to see more services and apps providing SNA features.<\/p>\n

Personalization or Echo Chamber?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Facebook, like hundreds of websites, offers recommendations and customized newsfeeds based on personalization algorithms. In an age where choice is limitless and attention increasingly scarce, this filtering and tailoring of information is valuable to many.<\/p>\n

\u201cFacebook will be able to augment your life because it knows all about your social graph and your likes and tastes, so why not use that data to help you and to make your life richer?\u201d asks Richard MacManus<\/a>, founder of ReadWriteWeb.<\/p>\n

While it may be convenient to have content curated based on your interests and past click behaviors, there is also the danger of having a very biased and skewed version of reality served to us.<\/p>\n

Ethical futurist Jamais Cascio<\/a> explains, \u201cAs Facebook increasingly becomes a filter for how we encounter information online, the kinds of things that Facebook determines are unimportant \u2013 that they\u2019re not gonna pay attention to or link to \u2013 become determinants of how millions of individuals see the world. Facebook becomes that ultimate filter.\u201d<\/p>\n

A recent piece<\/a> in Computerworld highlighted how personalization algorithms actually stereotype you and then hide information from you based on that stereotype. Check out Eli Pariser<\/a>\u2019s new book The Filter Bubble<\/a> to help understand what\u2019s at stake when someone else decides which information you see.<\/p>\n

Collective Intelligence & the Global Brain<\/strong><\/p>\n

Social networks provide us the opportunity to link up with others, cluster around shared interests and causes, and exchange knowledge, resources and expertise. We\u2019re only beginning to see the potential for humanity to evolve towards more intelligence, as we learn to think as part of a larger consciousness.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think of [Facebook] as the emerging nervous system of society,\u201d says Internet entrepreneur Nova Spivack<\/a>. \u201cIt could reduce the barriers between our minds and actually help us function more collectively in groups, something towards groupmind, collective consciousness, or what people may call the global brain.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sibley Verbeck<\/a>, founder of the Electric Sheep Company, echoes this metaphor: \u201cYou can think of it in terms of a brain, in that if you can have a large leap in the communication ability within all the synapses within your brain, while maintaining your ability to do the overall functions, of course that\u2019s going to increase intelligence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thinking of ourselves as part of a global brain requires a reframing what collective intelligence could really mean. In this view, each of us is a node in a much larger network. We can choose to act as filters and curators of information, send signals instead of noise, and channel flows of intelligence towards the people and groups that can most benefit from them.<\/p>\n

Aspirational Futures for Social Networks<\/strong><\/p>\n

Facebook has made it fun and easy to connect to others and share opinions, photos and links. We\u2019ve located long-lost friends from high school, planted carrots on our virtual farm, and shown how much we \u201clike\u201d everything. But at some point it begs the question, \u201cWhat next?\u201d<\/p>\n

What are the real opportunities of a globally connected society, and what is Facebook\u2019s role in their facilitation?<\/p>\n

Rita J King<\/a>, VP of Business Development at Science House, imagined a scenario where small businesses could form and grow. \u201cIf I were running Facebook, I would definitely imbue it with more opportunity to create entrepreneurial ventures, to get them funded, and to direct hybrid reality events that tie Facebook back to the physical world and allow people to connect in deeper and more meaningful ways. Any ubiquitous platform that doesn\u2019t encourage the development of robust business relationships as part of one\u2019s social life will be out of step with the immediate future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Author of the Cluetrain Manifesto, Doc Searls<\/a>, advocated for interoperability across platforms and the ability to take your social graph with you. \u201cI would start by open sourcing every bit of code I possibly could, adopt every possible open protocol for interacting with other entities on the web and on the \u2018net, and create the most open possible APIs for every possible service. I think Facebook needs to adapt themselves to a world in which there are many choices other than just them, or they will suffer the fate that most monopolies suffer in the long run.\u201d<\/p>\n

Futurist Chris Arkenberg<\/a> sees social networks as a tool for demystifying politics and building a more engaged citizenry. \u201cI think Facebook absolutely has the capacity to influence the way people think and the way people understand the world, to clarify fact from fiction, and particularly expose the way that moneyed interests are actively trying to manipulate the narrative in order to facilitate their goals over the very real needs of the global population \u2013 the needs of the common people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jerry Paffendorf<\/a>, founder of LOVELAND Technologies, believes an interactive \u2018gamification\u2019 layer on the web will lead to an explosion of collaboration and social innovation in the real world. \u201cTurning these tools into something that can help us coordinate action or incent us to make things, to go places, and to build stuff with other people is clearly something that\u2019s sitting there waiting to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

The responses hint towards the real power and opportunities we hope Facebook and other communication technologies will afford us. While the long-term implications of a networked society are still unknown, there are choices to make now which will shape its direction. It\u2019s up to us to realize the potential to build meaningful relationships, healthy communities, and real wealth, and the necessity to have communication infrastructures to enable it.<\/p>\n

Connection is happening. Social acceleration is happening. Now let\u2019s design for empowerment, collaboration, and positive action.<\/p>\n

Venessa Miemis<\/p>\n

Check out interview clips on the Future of Facebook youtube channel<\/a>, and updates on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, and the blog<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

image by ericaglasier.com @EricaGlasier  We live in a world of accelerating change. As our communication technologies evolve, it becomes easier to connect more and more of us around the planet to each other. The web collapses space and time, dissolves geographic boundaries, and gives us windows into each other\u2019s worlds.This is causing shifts in the … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[137,132],"tags":[1275,155,67,1276,1277,187,393,1278,1279,1280,1281,1282,1283,1284,1285,157,158,1286],"class_list":["post-3069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all-posts","category-venessa-miemis","tag-chris-arkenberg","tag-civilization","tag-culture","tag-david-kirkpatrick","tag-doc-searls","tag-empowerment","tag-facebook","tag-future-of-facebook-project","tag-humanity","tag-jamais-cascio","tag-jerry-paffendorf","tag-nova-spivack","tag-richard-macmanus","tag-rita-j-king","tag-sibley-verbeck","tag-social-networks","tag-society","tag-valdis-krebs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3069"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3069\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3073,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3069\/revisions\/3073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}