THE BIOPHYSICAL HOOK OF SOFT POWER-BASED SOCIAL NETWORKING
Critt Jarvis today had a profound post on the latest iteration of his start-up company, Conversationbase, LLC. that has, I strongly suspect, a general psychological validity:
“D’oh! It’s the network, stupid!
September 20th, 2006 by Critt Jarvis
Hmmm… Conversation Base… what am I trying to do here… content or social…
Wikipedia: Compare and contrast content network with social network.
Okay, the first clue is that the term “content network” doesn’t merit its own page on Wikipedia. But I read the entry for Content Delivery Network.
Content Delivery Network: a system of computers networked together across the Internet that cooperate transparently to deliver content (especially large media content) to end users.
Social network: A social network is a social structure made of nodes which are generally individuals or organizations.
What’s this mean to me ? A content delivery network wants the bits delivered, end to end; while a social network wants information delivered, end to end. Thus Conversation Base is in the business of enabling social networks, which organize around content.
Now I have to think about replacing “Content” with “Social” in my outline titles.”
This is a very powerful combination in terms of brain physiology to link conceptual intellectual stimulation with adaptive social behaviors ( throw in audiovisual stimulus and you have a cognitive trifecta. Turbocharged “infocrack”…Myspace for MENSA…you get the idea). As a business model, you have a network that could possibly encourage emergent communities within or across disciplines.
Given the power of synthesis to be a dialectical engine of creativity as per John Boyd, my vote is to opt for the latter.
