Recently in A List Apart, Derek Powazek (one of my heroes) published a post on the topic of “The Wisdom of Community” which postulates that James Surowiecki’s thesis in “The Wisdom of Crowds” might be served best in groups that enable them with the proper tools to truly allow this wisdom to manifest.
In this post, Powazek advocates that for online crowds to be wise, they need the following elements: simplicity, clear interfaces, aggregation, participation, selfishness (yes, selfishness!), scores, leaderboards, explicit vs. implicit feedback and savvy voting systems.
It’s well worth investigating this post in detail as it does take Surowiecki’s initial thesis and offers up suggestions on how to empower the energy of community with tools to allow it to become effective and truly – wise.
Photo of some wise people at a Montreal Tech Entrepreneur’s Breakfast by Montreal Tech Watch
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