 by Flemming Funch
Hm, interesting with the HOT or NOT rating for my newslog. OK, only 12 people rated it sofar, but there's a certain interesting pattern there. If we just average the ratings, I SUCK. However, the graph of what ratings people have chosen show a more nuanced story. At this point 6 people have given the rating 1, 2 said 5, 1 said 6, 1 said 8 and 2 said 10. Obviously people are free to pick any number from 1 to 10, but the lack of nuance in the lower region sticks out. The people who didn't enjoy my newlog all gave it a 1, whereas the more positively oriented people gave nuanced responses. It is only a guess, but it would seem to me that, except for maybe 1 or 2 people who actually know me and don't like me, I got 1s from sort of binary oriented people. People for whom things eithes suck or they're cool. Thumbs down or thumbs up. Or maybe my newslog is really repulsive to some kinds of people the moment they look at it. Now, I'm a great fan of Collaborative Filtering. But Collaborative Filtering requires something more than averages of course. I don't care at all if what I write appeals to less than 50% of web surfers. I'd be very happy if it were even 10%. But then again, those people would be the ones I'd want to speak with.
I've decided to make my public newslog accessible from [link] because that's fun and easy to remember.
Excellent interview with Howard Rheingold, who's one of the big virtual community gurus, in part about his latest book "Smart Mobs". Quote: "It's really not about the technology, it's about collective action. It's about the way people are able to do things together in ways that they weren't before because of these technologies. And I was really awakened to these potentials when I began reading things in the newspaper about the Philippines' peaceful revolution against President Estrada, in which people mobilized to telephone text messages to assemble in the streets of Manila and bring down the government. That signaled to me that something new was happening. And I began looking at the strong implications of this new technology."
The Ladies of Liberty are a group of libertarian women from North Carolina who's "turn-ons are long walks on the beach, candlelit dinners and free-market economies", and who made a pin-up calendar as a political fundraising effort. Hey, that works perfectly fine for me.
Edgewalkers defined: "Edgewalkers are the translators, bridge-builders and communicators of a rapidly transforming world. They lead the way. They pioneer new paths, connect divergent worlds, facilitate change, and make the hard choices that create a better, more fulfilling, safe and prosperous future for us all. In essence, they are the creators of our world. So the support and development of Edgewalkers is paramount — for their leadership, presence and contribution are the key to managing in an increasingly uncertain, transforming world. "
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