Robert Paterson's Weblog

Newton and Web 2.0 - Gravity and Mass - Attraction & Repulsion

I know that the apple story is a fable but bear with me. Newton began his great voyage of discovery by asking himself what was the force that attracted and repelled objects in the universe.

I had lunch with a friend yesterday who was asking this question of the social/tech world. In a world now of infinite content. In a world where billions can meet on line. In a real universe of scale rather than a local world of before the web - what is the force that attracts us and repels us? What is the force that will govern the webiverse? Will such a force be like gravity and govern all relationships at an obvious level? Will it allow us to make accurate predictions as Newton's explanation of gravity enabled the birth of the modern world?

My bet is that there are such laws and they can be found and that their discovery will enlighten us as Newton's laws have done.

Like the Apple falling, I have been reacting to the following experiences:

• Since I have been using the social web - I have met people who have become very dear to me. I have found a powerful attraction to individuals. Chris Corrigan, Johnnie Morre and Euan and I have all been talking about this in the last 2 days. I am sure that we are not alone. Is this not your experience as well. These close new friends, close but not met often,  have in turn have connected me to others where I feel the same attraction. A process of planetary accretion seems to be occurring. Feels like solar dust massing

• These individuals that I am attracted to and I seem to share a set of values. Is this our sun? We are all so different in superficial ways. We live all over the world. Dina in India. Johnnie in the UK, Chris in BC. But inside we seem to be very like.

• Now the opposite is also true - there are sets of values that I am repelled by. I can't spend time on the web exploring them. I am repelled by those values. I am uncomfortable when I am with people who have them.

• It seems a natural process on the social web to cluster around like values. Fox has a loyal community as does NPR but it is unlikely that the two will connect.

Why is this happening and what might this mean?

I think the context is scale. When we lived in a physical world, blood, propinquity and larger national values ruled us. Our world was really very small and not complex. But the web has opened us up to a universe of scale. The new world that confronts us is at a scale of a universe and will get larger on an exponential rate. The new world is infinitely complex as well.

So our "problem" is finding our place in this larger universe. Which brings me back to the deeper problem that Newton was trying to solve.

Before the reformation, the world for western humans was very small. The Earth was its centre and God lived above the clouds. It was bounded by Europe, Asia and Africa. We felt safe in this tiny world. We knew who we were. But when we learned that we were a dot in a vast universe there was a crisi of meaning. Who were we? Where were we? How did we fit into this vastness? Many today have still not solved this question and reject science and seek to find the reassurance of the early belief about how everything fits.

I think that the social web is recreating this need for meaning again. Our family may no longer be the most important set of relationships. Our country may not be the next layer either. What we are seeing is that it is values that are the new attractors. Are there not two America's emerging? How will the red and the blue live with each other in 100 years?

What will it be like now when we can choose our friends from a choice of billions.

When all the information that humans have ever created is immediately available

When we can cross time and space for no cost - there are no barriers to connection

I wonder has an evolutionary event occurred? I think that we stand at a time as Newton did when we need to relocate ourselves beyond the small confines of our physical world.

If I am correct then something like the laws of gravity will apply to social networks in the context of web 2.0.

If I am correct then finding our answers to our version of who are we now that the universe has been expanded will offer us the release that the scientific revolution offered our forefathers.

My bet is that the answers will be found in math and that much of Newton's work will apply.

The Guardian gets it

3 years ago, I gave up my subscription to the Guardian - our local Newspaper. I asked Gary and the guys to please have a good web alternative.

The Guardian online is turning out to be excellent - key is the space for comment on all their main articles - Islanders pitch in a lot as you might expect.

Key is that they are opening space for Islanders to offer original content

Here is their re-offer of a video made by a parent who is concerned about the way that the Child Care Facilities Act is being handled.

They are lending Islanders the power of their megaphone - good for them!

Harold Nails the 2.0 Trajectory

I don't think I have seen a picture that shows what is really happening more clearly - hats off to Harold Jarche

It gives me the "Question" to anyone - "SO tell me where you and your organization is in this dynamic picture?'

If the answer is a wrinkled brow, then get up and leave. If not then you can get engaged.

BBC and Kids - The Future - CBBC

It is clear - to me anyway - that the new web is not a series of pages, or views or hits etc. If you think that you miss the key -

The New Web is a place!

The Web is a place where you have a life. You may buy and sell as in eBay, you may share and swap information as in Google, you may play as in WOW. It's where you meet your friends as in Facebook or MySapce or you simply have a life in it as in Second Life.

The BBC get it. They are going to create a world for Kids

                                                                                    

Users can create almost every aspect of their avatar

A virtual world which children can inhabit and interact with is being planned by the BBC.

CBBC, the channel for 7-12 year olds, said it would allow digitally literate children the access to characters and resources they had come to expect.

Users would be able to build an online presence, known as an avatar, then create and share content.

Bosses said CBBC World would not have the financial aspects of other online worlds such as Second Life.

A spokesman said: "This kind of cross-platform broadcasting is becoming the norm for people who have been born into the digital world.

        "It will give children a chance to move around a safe, secure world where they can not only interact with familiar characters but have an opportunity to make that world a more fascinating place with their own imaginations."

Those building CBBC World said the emphasis would be on safety and responsibility, with no chatrooms or facilities for building new parts of the virtual world.

It is expected to go live in the summer with a full launch in the autumn to coincide with the CBBC relaunch.

BBC children's controller Richard Deverell said: "CBBC World is a good example of the way we need to go.

"The thing that interests me is that children are at the vanguard. And that is where we are taking Children's BBC."

This feels like a winner to me. It's not a cute new set of programming. They are trying to build a Trusted Space for kids.