origins of online communities - an american influence for the 21st century
DESCRIPTION
I've taken the time, at last, to put in slides my theory about social media. It's not about technology, it's about a deeper change in our world, one that makes communities, online or not, rise. In a nutshell, I think we've been evolving for the past 250 years from a society of individuals to a society of communities, a motion led by the US, and with 1620, the Mayflower and the Pilgrim Fathers as a starting point. In this set of slides, I go through the American and French revolution, and the way they help to understand how identities are on the rise everywhere, and how they fit into communities. Internet is more an output of this trend, and a catalyzer, as it gives so many possible channels and interactions possible for any identity (gender, sexuality, race, religion, hobby, work…) to express. You can also read the summary of my article on my blog martinpasquier.com MTRANSCRIPT
Origins of online communi/es
An American influence for the 21st century
Intro Online communi6es. Wait – what??
Rise of the communi/es, even more with Internet, even more with social media Back to the Future, and to the French and American revolu/ons
USA Community as a poli/cal engine
1620: Pilgrim Fathers flee England to live freely their religion 1700-‐2000: waves of immigrants (German, Poles, Italian, La/nos…) => “E Pluribus Unum”: community + pluralism
mayflower
USA 1960s: communi/es strike back
Revolu/on of the iden/ty: from the “mel/ng pot” to the “Salad bowl” Blacks, queers, women, hippies, veteran soldiers… Public space as a patchwork of specific rights linked to iden//es
USA Even capitalism can’t compete
Capitalism = homo economicus = neutral moral strategy in a society of individuals Community = people with a meaning and a choice in their ac/ons
France Rousseau and the Republic: equality rules
1789: Revolu/on. 1792: End of the monarchy, enters 1st Republic (now 5th) Republican moao: “One and unspliaable” (no more local, religious, country-‐based iden//es Theory: a federa/on is the siege of chaos. Let’s do “one na/on”
France Na/on vs. the rest of the world(s)
No recogni/on of anything that can be an alterna/ve power or culture Body poli/c as “unanimous”, speaking for the “general interest” Individuals, to enter public space, leave behind their iden//es.
France Building a na/onal community
Napoleon: state law, state schools “Centrale”, “Normale” Religion always wrong (s/ll true in 2000s: riots, veil, gheao) One fear: an atomized public space with enclosed communi/es & rules
Internet A community for research
Recogni/on of rights fits into technology (which allows scaaered iden//es to voice, gather, work together) First “internet” by DARPA for Universi/es: free, collabora/ve, community-‐based FR: state-‐owned, protected telegraph. US: given to companies, open for stock exchange (Reuters)
Internet The WELL, the first “online community” (1985)
Whole Earth ‘Lectronic Link: a bulle/ng board becoming a “online community” An online community is a community that forms on the internet. A community is a group of people interac6ng, sharing, and working toward a common goal => The embodiment of the poli/cal and cultural matrix of the US
Internet When users take to the power
Starbucks, Gap, Malabar (France) can’t change their logos
mayflower
Internet When users take to the power
Poli/cal par/es can’t live without (Obama, “No” to European Cons/tu/on in 2005, Cons/tu/on of Island)
mayflower
Internet When users take to the power
And causes manage to leverage huge user base through social media (Nestlé v. Kit-‐Kat, Kony 2012)
The community So what is a community
Shared interest (beyond digital) Network of presence (not a single site) A will for poli/cal or commercial recogni/on Ability to produce collec/vely goods (content, opinion…)
The community Who is part of the community
Not everyone is equal (lurkers vs. “ac/ve minority” or 1-‐9-‐90) Rewards for the best (moderator, admin, perks) People with different levels of par/cipa/on (like, star, rate, comment, post, manage…)
The community What is the community doing?
Crowdfunding, from Kickstarter top projects to poli/cal project (JOBS Act)
The community What is the community doing?
Research & Development: Dell Ideastorm (18K projects, 700K votes, 500 products), Starbucks myIdeas
The community What is the community doing?
Human resources management: We are Sephora on Facebook (32k fans), BNP Paribas backstage (FR: 2 800 members, 2 500 comments)…
The community What is the community doing?
CRM/Social CRM: from Numericable (FR) savings to Nestlé’s “social media room” (to ease shareholders?)
The community What is the community doing?
Going from the industrial age: hierarchy, produc/vity, mono-‐tasking… To the the network economy: flexibility, project-‐based, horizontal…
Coming next A world without states, replaced by communi/es Individual empowerment: • No more borders, rise of
immigra/on (Costa Rica 10%, Ireland 14%, Botswana 4%, Singapore 30%)
• No more families (single household 5-‐10% in Africa, APAC, Middle-‐East and Lat. Am, 30+% in Europe, US
• No more (almost) religion: rise of atheism
• No more trade unions (-‐20pts in the US and France between 1950 and 1989)
Coming next A world without states, replaced by communi/es
End of the big guys • Travel, musique, commerce
all disrupted by new internet ventures (AirBNB, Uber…) with a community-‐based approach
• States are failing: too big, too debt-‐burdened. Alterna/ve? Say hi to Blueseed!
