Good thought provoking post by Chris Hambly on the problems of ganging together:

never before have we been able to seek out such vast extremes of ideology in one place. On the Internet there are no mechanical forces preventing us to segregate, we have no house to sell, we are free to indulge in our extremism…

This is an interesting choice of subject and one that’s obviously of equal importance to all the good stuff that we achieve by coming together. And yet the focus tends to favour the latter. Personally I prefer to talk up the better aspects of the world I work in than acknowledge some of the crap that goes on out there, but I’m beginning to think that this is naive at best and foolhardy at worst. I’d rather know about the negative and meet it head on than hope it will fade away only to come back and bite me later on.

Cyber bullying and stalking are probably the most obvious detrimental uses of new media, but just recently I’ve seen seem some really dark rallying of people and technology. That’s something I’m still deciding how to handle.

I haven’t spoke to Chris in detail about any of this, but via Twitter he did mention the importance of a Network of Networks. I’d like to think the setting up of this kind of event, one where many disparate groups come together in real life will lead to more walls tumbling down and more common ground discovered.

Or maybe just a badly choreographed Sharks vs Jets face off ala West Side Story Anchorman.

I’m still insanely optimistic in what can be achieved with Social Media and believe there are no limits to what we can accomplish on the Internet, but it’s important to recognise that for every feel good story contained in Here Comes Everybody there is probably something a little darker brewing on /b.

Also a lot of walled communities come into being through a kind of accidental evolution - often these walls are built as a byproduct of the group’s activity rather than with the purpose of directly keeping others out. I’ve personally been involved in groups in the past that grew at such a pace that it sometimes took a good hard look from the outside to see how quickly we’d fallen into cliques, inclusive language and preferential skill sets. All barriers to healthy growth.

This is exactly why I always try and follow as many people as possible on Twitter who live and work well outside of where I am, both geographically and career wise. I tend to learn a lot more from the people forging ahead outside my comfort zone.

Now I can’t foresee any of the networks so far mentioned on this blog in danger of going feral (unless the coffee runs out at Tuttle again) or being even slightly rude to outsiders, but I do stand by the idea that more integration across the boards is a good thing.

This very evening I’m looking forward to the Moo bash because it’s going to do (I hope) exactly what we’re hoping to achieve with a Network of Networks event later in the year. People from all over coming together through one common factor - in this case the oddly shaped business cards we’ve all taken to our social object orientated hearts. It will be interesting to see how many people mingle away from the groups they already know. Do come and say hello if you spot me. I’ll be the one trying to make new friends without resorting to a Daniel Day Lewis impression (or a single Moo card - I just ran out, doh!).

Chris also raises the issue of:

a serious lacking in critical skills within social media, a fundamental flaw in the system, cult-like blind faith is fucking dangerous, and there will be ferocious venomous spitting when opposing extremes come together

You only have to dip into Twitter during a Steve Jobs key note to see blind faith in action. Cory Doctorow just reviewed a book that I subsequently ordered myself that seems to address some of these issues. It’ll be interesting to see if a more inward focused criticism picks up any traction once we’ve finished having a pop at the easier targets of old media and PR while slapping each other on the back for being ‘rockstars’.

Chris also seems to have a post on bridges planned so do keep an eye out for that one too.

Photo credit: PANDILLAS DE NUEVA YORK by mueredecine (CC license)