A Group Is Its Own Worst Enemy
Clay Shirkey,
Jul 01, 2003
A large group is its own worst enemy. This is the paradox of social software, one we've seen over and over again from online games (or MUDs) to community bulletin boards. Which means three things: first, an online community - any online community - must be managed. You cannot separate the social from the technical. Second, social networks have a core group - members - that matter more than casual users. And third, this group's rights sometimes trump individual rights. Consequently, an online community needs to create handles users can invest in and use to create an identity. You need to establish barriers to participation. And you need to create ways to subdivide the group, to "save it from scale." All this seems right to me... but ah, the implementation.
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