Blogging and the Wisdom of Crowds

[Carrie]

But like Wikipedia, blogging harnesses collective intelligence as a kind of filter. What James Suriowecki calls "the wisdom of crowds" comes into play, and much as PageRank produces better results than analysis of any individual document, the collective attention of the blogosphere selects for value.

I am wary of any kind of "value" that "the wisdom of crowds" might put out. Group think isn't my thing, and neither are posses.

A crowd of wolves might feel that the lone sheep visiting as a guest should turn into a tasty dinner.

"Wisdom of crowds" is an oxymoron, and it's why the US is a republic, not a democracy.

[walrus]

Originally Posted by Carrie

I am wary of any kind of "value" that "the wisdom of crowds" might put out. Group think isn't my thing, and neither are posses.

A crowd of wolves might feel that the lone sheep visiting as a guest should turn into a tasty dinner.

"Wisdom of crowds" is an oxymoron, and it's why the US is a republic, not a democracy.

Just because someone participates in a group (or a crowd) does not mean that they automaticly surrender their individualism and become sheep, following the pack. The strength of any group lies in its individuals. Group think does not (and should not) have to be like a pack of animals following an individual leader

[BadWolf]

Originally Posted by Carrie

I am wary of any kind of "value" that "the wisdom of crowds" might put out. Group think isn't my thing, and neither are posses.

A crowd of wolves might feel that the lone sheep visiting as a guest should turn into a tasty dinner.

"Wisdom of crowds" is an oxymoron, and it's why the US is a republic, not a democracy.

Originally Posted by walrus

Just because someone participates in a group (or a crowd) does not mean that they automaticly surrender their individualism and become sheep, following the pack. The strength of any group lies in its individuals. Group think does not (and should not) have to be like a pack of animals following an individual leader

I consider myself a definite loner but I like the idea of like minded webmasters building their own mini community and working together in as loose or as tight a fashion as they might prefer.

The longer I'm in this biz the more I think for myself and the more I realize I'm not in this just for the money. I hear a lot of talk about changing the adult webmaster business.........one way to do that is to lead by example but only a community or group can effect real change. That interests me more than tweaking my PR.

We already do this in one sense in sharing information and through webmaster forums in general as each one has a certain 'personality' while the members remain very individualistic. Hopefully, anyway.