RESOURCES
To learn more (and stay atop of trends) about the Participation Culture, take a peek at some of these key resources:
I. On The Web
ARTICLE: “Open Source Paradigm Shift” by Tim O’Reilly, Publisher O’Reilly & Associates (discussed the architecture of participation)
ARTICLE: MySpace Has Large Circle of Friends, But Rivals’ Cliques Are Growing Too Wall Street Journal Online, September 26, 2006
SITE: “MIT Center for Collective Intelligence”: How can people and computers be connected so that—collectively—they act more intelligently than any individuals, groups, or computers have ever done before? With its combination of expertise in computer science, brain sciences, and management, MIT is uniquely suited to address this question.
SITE: “Web Services Organization”: a site more on the enterprise, commercial software side...but has good information about web services and API’s.
SITE: “Widgetbox”: Widgetbox is an online directory of web widgets for blogs and other web pages. Our widgets work with TypePad, WordPress, Blogger, MySpace as well as most other blogs, sidebars or websites. No plug-ins are needed, and they're free!
SITE: The Project for Excellence in Journalism is a research organization that specializes in using empirical methods to evaluate and study the performance of the press. It is non partisan, non ideological and non political.
WHITE PAPER: “Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century”: a white paper by Henry Jenkins, Director of the Comparative Media Studies Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology published this white paper that explores new frameworks and models for media literacy.
WHITE PAPER: “SERIOUS BUSINESS FOR AMERICA’S ECONOMY” (PDF): a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers on the videogame business.
DOCTORAL THESIS: “A STUDY OF THE MASSIVELY MULTIPLAYER ONLINE BUSINESS MODEL WITHIN THE INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY” (PDF)
II. Blogs and Podcasts
“Connecting the Dots: Guidance, Insight and Ideas in a Time of Accelerating Change”: a blog by this report’s author, Steve Borsch
“Apophenia” is a blog by Danah Boyd, a PhD student in SIMS at Berkeley and a social media researcher at Yahoo! Also, Ms. Boyd has a very strong series of papers and presentations here
“Read/WriteWeb” is a popular tech weblog by Richard MacManus, focused on Next Generation Web Technology.
“Web 2.0 Workgroup”: The Web 2.0 Workgroup is a network of premium weblogs that write content about the new generation of the Web. Combined, these sites reach a large readership of influential technology and media professionals.
“Smart Mobs”: a blog about mobile communication, pervasive computing, wireless networks and collective action (about Topics and Issues discussed in the book Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution by Howard Rheingold)
III. Books
“Convergence Culture” by Henry Jenkins founder and director of MIT's comparative media studies program, who debunks outdated ideas of the digital revolution in this remarkable book, proving that new media will not simply replace old media, but rather will learn to interact with it in a complex relationship he calls "convergence culture."
“Dark Fiber: Tracking Critical Internet Culture”. The author examines the unwarranted faith of the cyber-libertarians in the ability of market forces to create a decentralized, accessible communication system. He studies the inner dynamics of hackers' groups, Internet activists, and artists, seeking to understand the social laws of online life.
“The Wisdom of Crowds” While our culture generally trusts experts and distrusts the wisdom of the masses, New Yorker business columnist James Surowiecki argues that "under the right circumstances, groups are remarkably intelligent, and are often smarter than the smartest people in them."
“The Wealth of Networks” Yochai Benkler shows us how the Internet enables new commons-based methods for producing goods, remaking culture, and participating in public life.
“We-think: An exploration of an experiment in collaborative creativity” an upcoming book by Charles Leadbetter
