Luke Razzell (of weaverluke) has published two very interesting articles on Phase behaviour in human communities and the evolving social internet, part 1 & part 2 and part 3 (to come).
Phase behaviour is, as far as I can gather, essentially the development and then rapid dissolution / change evident in human communities and these explore how this might be happening and facilitated through the web, especially in the forthcoming this instalment through weblogs and wikis.
It’s an interesting read and while I’m not sure that I agree with Luke that wikis have so much of a part to play in this, concerned as he and I are with the nature of identity in the web, I’m looking forward to part 3.
A cool quote from the first instalment:
“Individuals and communities must be free within the boundaries of a respect for the choices and integrity of others.What might this freedom entail? Freedom for individuals and communities:
—to express themselves
—to relate to, interact and co-create with others
—to participate in multiple communities*
—to determine their own boundaries with respect to their relationship with others*communities themselves may participate in other communities”