The writing on my Wall

Another week, another weekly task. Following on from the last, we’ll see how a couple of organisations use new media technology to foster useful but unconventional connections with the public at large – a process I have chosen to call building Emotional Capital. EC goes beyond goodwill – the trick is to get the public not just wishing your success but acting alongside you to achieve your goals. An excellent framework for analysing this (and other!) enterprise 2.0 endeavours is Don Tapscott and Anthony Williams’ theory of Wikinomics.

The Wikinomics recipe for a modern, successful business calls for adherence to four principles: being open to external scrutiny; a healthy respect for peers (both inside and outside the organisation’s payroll); the willingness to share knowledge and experience with all and sundry; and the ability to exert influence on the world stage (Tapscott & Williams, 2006, p20-30). To my mind, the distinctions between the first criterion, the second and the third aren’t particularly meaningful, especially when applied to the smaller and much more fluid entities I’ve chosen to examine today. Consequently, an amalgam term ‘openness’ will be used in their collective stead.

Social networking: privacy is for wimps.

First on the cards is Diaspora*; a student-made, open sourced social network slated for release at the end of the American developers’ Summer break. That’s some time mid-September for those of us in the Antipodes. The project’s initial proposal, made on the pledge-driven community funding site Kickstarter, describes it as “…privacy aware, personally controlled, [and] do-it-all distributed.” What it doesn’t explicitly mention, unlike a profile piece compiled by the New York Times is that these three goals put the project in direct opposition with industry giant Facebook, whose approach to handling personal information leaves a bit to be desired.

How does one successfully challenge (read: bury) a household name in the information age? Well, short of the opposition miraculously imploding, you probably can’t. Certainly not without a good deal of help.

The four student founders of the Diaspora* project understand this. They’ve been immersed in a distinctly collaboration-friendly environment for some time now and have approached their dilemma with absolute openness in mind. They know that by: forcing their users to assume personal over their own information; providing a plugin system for presentation-level improvement; and opening the project’s source code to external review; they ensure that the project has hooks to involve any and all, expert and novice, should they so choose.

This high degree of inclusivity should not only greatly speed technical development but also do wonders for the Diaspora* project’s supply of emotional and (through the traditional open-source money spinners: poweruser tools & tech support) economic capital. Will this understanding of Wikinomics be enough to ensure future success? I certainly hope so.

Dwarf Fortress: interior decoration is Serious Business.

In the proper scheme of things, an overly detailed fantasy simulation game sporting bad graphics and worse controls really shouldn’t work. Dwarf Fortress is just such a game but has done surprisingly well given its numerous natural disadvantages. Developed by one-man-and-a-dog studio Bay 12 Games, DF has attracted no shortage of plaudits and cash donations. Enough of both, anyway, to keep creator Tarn Adams fed, housed and motivated over several arduous years and optimistic about the viability of the project into the future.

As with many niche products, this game rises or falls with its community. ToadyOne (as Mr. Adams is known in situ) relies upon a thriving forum, regular podcasts, a prompt news feed and community powered quality assurance to give and receive the absolute utmost to and from his supporters and to keep them involved and interested in the potentially very long periods between version releases. New media to a tee. Flawless, yes? Well, not quite.

A game that doesn’t just encourage but is only bounded by the player’s imagination will naturally attract a fairly creative following. Bright souls, full to the brim with plans, ideas and schemes, soaking up the warm and inviting atmosphere of a community of the like-minded. What if every one of same had not *a* but *the* greatest idea that just had to be included in the next release? What happens when these people begin agitating for greater inclusion? What happens if a developer becomes afraid of losing control of his game and his livelihood? To the very people who’ve made it all possible?

Thankfully, when the developer in question is the redoubtable Toady, the situation is under control. Despite initial fears and, slowly at first, the game began to open up; documented internals, facilities for modders and the occasional collaborative sub-project began to emerge. The results have been, for some time now, nothing short of astounding. Graphical improvements, a form of multiplayer (which the game was definitely not designed for), facilities for storing and sharing designs and stories, a much-needed wiki reference; the community reveled in its new-found freedom. And donations? Stronger than ever.

So! There we have it. Another two organisations intelligently applying the assorted theories of Enterprise 2.0, though I very much doubt they’d use the term themselves. There are valuable lessons to be learned below the undergrowth of the business world: openness, inclusiveness and careful attention to community are an essential element of a modern, successful enterprise. They may even get your customers working for you.

References

1. Tapscott, D., & Williams, A. D. (2006). Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything. Self published. Retrieved August 7, 2010 from http://www.wikinomics.com/book/IntroAndOne.pdf

Edit: re-written for clarity of argument. Still no journal access – I’ll just have to do without, then.

Edit the second: beaten to it. By a Coca Cola boss, no less.