Designing for Civil Society

A group is its own worst enemy

I've just caught up with a great article written by social software specialist Clay Shirky on how and why groups behave the way they do online, drawing a bit on face-to-face (well, psychologist W. R. Brion studying neurotics). You'll have to read the article to find just why groups are their own worst enemy, and stay to the end to find Clay's three things to accept in developing or using social software (lists, forums etc) :
1 You cannot separate social and technical discussion
2 Group members are different from users, and you need a core group
3 The core group has rights that trump individual rights in some circumstances - you need governance.
There are also four things to design for in large groups: 'handles' people can invest in (sort of identity); recognition for members of good standing; barriers to participation; and a way to spare the group from scale (too big).
Clay says he writes about “Systems where vested interests lose out to innovation” ... or maybe “Systems where having good participants produces better results than having good planners.” You can read Clay's articles here and subscribe to his mailing list here.
Further thoughts on The Unspoken of Groups by David Weinberger

Steven Clift promotes 'Public net-work' concept

Globe trotting e-democracy guru Steven Clift is promoting "Public net-work" as a concept .... "the strategic use of information and communications technology to better implement established public policy goals and programs through direct and diverse online stakeholder involvement.  From direct citizen volunteer involvement at the local level to enhanced inter-governmental and NGO participation at the national level, "public net-work" is a new concept that redefines the role of government in the information age." News here of an e-conference October 15-29, plus a paper developing the concept.

Article in Usability News

Check out the excellent article about the Bath workshop in Usability News here Usability News http://www.usabilitynews.com

Article on Civic and Community Technology

In May 2002 David Wilcox and Martyn Pearl wrote: "Civic and community use of the Internet is important to the UK Government because of its targets for moving services online, and to commerce because of the insights it provides into user styles and preferences. It is also crucial in the development and re-energising of our social and civic institutions." They concluded that many of our institutions are failing to rise to the challenge. Journal of the Communication Network Is this still true?