Collective Intelligence & The Global Village

As I peruse through the landscape of Second Life, trying to gain a grasp on this ethereal digital world, I turn my avatar to another strange looking avatar and ask where we are? Another new member to Second life walks over and explains we are at an information hub; I had obviously accidently teleported into Second Life main land. I make friends with this new avatar named Zerthas1 and decide it’s time to fly and explore the world Linden Lab have created part of, and even observe what others have built themselves into this world and now call their own. Through talking to other avatars I gain insight, a sort of intelligence into what to do, and where to go. Alone this wouldn’t be possible, but with the help of others knowledge I am able to progress faster and a lot easier. This ironically I realise is an example of collective intelligence at work. Welcome to the Second Life I guess..

Second life, like other Information and communication technology (ICT) sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Wikipedia, is an example of collective intelligence and the Global Village. Collective intelligence is a “term used by Levy (1997) and de Kerckhove (1998) to refer to the capacity of networked ICTs to exponentially enhance the collective pool of social knowledge by simultaneously expanding the extent of human interactions enabled by communications networks that can generate new knowledge, and the greatly enhanced capacity to codify, store, and retrieve such knowledge through collective access to network databases.” (Flew, T 2008).Alternatively a simple explanation given by Thomas W. Malone “Groups of individuals acting collectively in ways that seem intelligent”. These examples operate under the banner of collective intelligence which I understand as millions of individuals around the world, amateurs and professional contributing to the collected information within social networks and/or Wiki.
The concept of the Global village introduced by McLuhan (1964) which refers to a boundless electronic communication village, again supported by Boorstin(1978), stating nations will be bound into a new form of community can strongly be again supported in a modern context by social mediums such as Facebook or Second Life. Not only do these mediums of collective intelligence transcend country borders in allowing communication by individuals all around the world simultaneously but with the introduction of new convergent technologies such as the I Phone and its applications, these networks break the boundaries of when, where and how this collective intelligence can be shared.

There are a lot of positives to be gained from the presence of collective intelligence and the Global village. One of these ironically enough is the process called Blogging. Blogging, essentially is the impression of peoples thoughts online, adding their amateur or professional views to the collective intelligence of the network society. This form of collective intelligence within the music industry has often been a point of concern as users rip music and place it in blogs to be uploaded for free or place their music for free, cutting out big corporations. Whilst this is positive and negative for some there exists a notably negative relationship between the Global Village and Collective Intelligence.

The Global Village has been argued to represent a modernist western colonial conception which aims at erasing cultural differences and national boundaries. (Zembylas, M & Vrasidas C 2005) Embracing the Global village is for poorer nations essential otherwise they run they risk of isolation and exclusion from progress. Collective intelligence represents one aspect of the mass force of progress, which is arguably the power of the crowd creating progress internationally. In that sense there may lie a negative to some when regarding the global village and collective intelligence. Whilst these negatives possibilities may exist and it is inevitable that social networks and collective intelligence channels exist, there must be vigilance in allowing difference among the conglomeration of knowledge.

Social networking not only transcends geographical boundaries but those of industries. The music industry is one such industry which is heavily entrenched in the Global Village. Social Networking sites are not only platforms for music e.g. MySpace, But they are also marketing tools to reach the audience of musicians. Amateurs and professionals operate technologically on an even scale, being able to use mediums such as You Tube to broadcast themselves and add to the collective intelligence musically. One example of this recently is the story of Susan Boyle, a 47 year old woman who auditioned on “Britans Got Talent” and within days became an internet sensation through the sharing of her performance over You Tube.



Like most music artists Susan will now have a Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, All social networking sites which span the Global Village and are constant sources of collective intelligence. Although these are the major social networking sites, the world of Second life also allows for individuals to add their knowledge to a social networking medium. In Second Life participants can take up any profession, even be a Deejay in a club where they can use their knowledge of music and play music for other avatars. This is an example of individuals using their information or skills which they possess which then becomes the raw material of economic activity within a social network. (Flew, T 2008).

References
1. Flew, Terry. 2008. New Media an introduction; pg 80-105
2. MICHALINOS ZEMBYLAS & CHARALAMBOS VRASIDAS. 2005. “Globalization, information and communication technologies, and the prospect of a ‘global village’: promises of inclusion or electronic colonization?” VOL. 37, NO. 1, 65–83
3. Susan Boyle Audition, www.youtube.com. (accessed 28.10.2009 4:38pm)
4. Collaboration & Collective Intelligence, http://mitworld.mit.edu/video/467
(Accessed 28.10.2009 2pm).