Pieter- If this is a Complex Adaptive System, and one can argue that it is, then imposed order will usually not be successful and have unforeseen consequences that may even be worse. David Snowden's Cynefin Framework (Harvard Business Review, Nov 2007 and: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Miwb92eZaJg) predicts a devolution into chaos when such imposed order is attempted. The best approach in his Framework, and one in which I agree, is to amplify the positive attractors and dampen the negative ones.
Russ#3 On Sep 27, 2010, at 2:46 AM, Pieter Steenekamp wrote: > We know and agree what Facebook's business model is: they do their utmost to > get more and more people to join and then they use all the private stuff to > target very focused adverts. Then there is also a natural tendency for the > rich to become richer (Epstein and Axtell's "Sugarscape) and more powerful > and then to abuse their money and power. > > My question is: how do you know when this is good or bad for society. Well, I > don't argue that the extreme of this is evil, but where is the extreme? And > further, what is a good way to keep the rich and powerful in check? Is it > good to regulate it, and to what extent do you regulate it? If we regulate > it, how do we prevent the regulations from getting out of hand and limit our > freedom too much? When are regulations unnecessary and is it good enough to > just tell everybody about the "evil" things they do? > > Pieter > > On 2010/09/26 09:07 PM, Jochen Fromm wrote: >> I admit that's a good point. I don't accuse Facebook of forcing anyone to >> join them, >> it doesn't do this yet. But they try to force users to stay there once they >> have joined. Many users are lured in, or join out of curiosity, but Facebook >> doesn't let them out again. That's evil, >> especially because the high number of users >> is a key element in their advertising strategy. >> >> Another problem is that some data of your friends - photos, videos, or >> information about events - may be inaccessible for you if you don't join. >> Information is no longer freely available on the internet. Finally all the >> buzz generated around Facebook suggests that it is a wonderful place. It is >> not - only if you >> have something to sell. The buzz is generated partly because the media >> itself is involved in it - many journalists and newspapers have an account >> themselves. >> Imagine the language we speak would belong >> to a company. Every 5 years the company would invent a new version of the >> language with plenty of new words, and every time we would >> have to learn the new words and rules (and print new books). The language we >> speak belongs to us. >> Our private life, too. The Facebook operators don't violate privacy >> occasionaly, it is their core business to violate privacy. People should be >> aware of this. >> >> -J. >> >> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Pieter Steenekamp" >> <[email protected]> >> To: <[email protected]> >> Sent: Sunday, September 26, 2010 1:23 PM >> Subject: Re: [FRIAM] You Have 0 Friends [why Facebook is evil] >> >> >>> If a grocery store offers to sell you a bread for a dollar, do you accuse >>> them of forcing you to give you a dollar? Then why do you accuse Facebook >>> of forcing you to do anything? If you don't like it, simply don't open an >>> account with them. If you don't buy bread then you die, so I would rather >>> accuse the grocery store of forcing me to part with my dollar. If you don't >>> open a Facebook account, at least you don't die. >>> >>> Pieter >>> >> >> >> ============================================================ >> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv >> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College >> lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org >> > > ============================================================ > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College > lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
