Collective intelligence, trends and the emergence of best practices
Based on the fact you are reading this blog, I can assume you are (at least) one of five people:
- The marker of this assignment
- A fellow BCM112 student who has accidentally clicked the link on my Twitter post
- A fellow BCM112 student gathering inspiration for their blog post
- Someone who genuinely interested in reading about collective intelligence
- A family member stalking my Uni work (hi Dad)
Regardless of whichever category you fall under, I can say with certainty that you are a user of the internet, have most likely encountered ‘trends’ online, and are therefore an observer/participator in collective intelligence. But what does this mean?
In Week 5, we were introduced to the ‘The Internet Paradigm‘- a concept which explores the shift from broadcast media to emergent media through the analysis of networked participation and collective intelligence. This topic helped us establish an understanding of how new types of participation have altered the role of audience interaction with a focus on how the shift has changed the way we organise and solve problems together.
In this blog post, I will examine the concept of collective intelligence, and explain its relevance to the creation of trends and the emergence of best practices online. By doing this, I aim to help you (as an online user) understand the role of collective intelligence and what it looks like in emergent media as part of the internet paradigm.
So, What is Collective Intelligence?
According to Pierre Lévy, collective intelligence is:
“Any form of universally distributed intelligence, constantly enhanced, coordinated in real time, and resulting in the effective mobilisation of skills.”
(Levy 1994)
In its most basic form, collective intelligence is the sharing of knowledge, behaviours and the creation of conventions as a problem solving mechanism from individual to group scales. Essentially, collective intelligence is a ‘meme’ (an indication of utility).
What Does it Look Like in Emergent Media?
The shift from legacy media to a participatory media environment has not just been significant on a technical level, it has also realigned the fundamental way we make decisions as a group.
To elaborate, the below table illustrates the differences in collective intelligence behaviour seen in legacy media versus emergent media.
The participatory nature of emergent media means collective intelligence is ubiquitous across the internet.
Trends & Best Practices Emerging
A trend is a general development or change in a situation or in the way that people are behaving. Online trends are a direct result of collective intelligence – in the sense that they are things many people partake in and is verified as ‘useful’ for a period of time. With the understanding that collective intelligence is a problem-solving mechanism, the creation of trends is often the emergence of what is deemed ‘best practice’.
Insta-poses
Scrolling through Instagram, it is not uncommon to observe similarities in portraiture content (such as selfies).
Instagram picture poses are a great example of convention creation and how ‘trends’ emerge as a result of collective intelligence. In this instance, the commonality of a particular pose/style of image (low angle pictures, for example) is popular for a reason- they provide a solution to a problem, are effective, and facilitate the emergence of best practice.
Insta-pose trends emerge as a solution to fulfil the desire to produce pleasing content and create an online presence that promotes your appearance. As an example, low-angle images have become increasingly popular on Instagram as they enhance the length of one’s legs, oftentimes create an aesthetically pleasing contrast of background and foreground, and are therefore deemed effective.
Along with this example of behaviour sharing, to further exemplify this concept, we can also look into the sharing of knowledge that exists within this trend, such as information on the trendy Instagram poses, or tips on how to pose.
Digital Artefact Idea
A potential digital artefact I have ideated involves crowdsourcing knowledge of current and upcoming TikTok trends via a dedicated Facebook discussion forum, and using this information to create educational TikTok videos for content creators.
THE IDEA
CONTEXTUAL RESEARCH
There are a range of similar TikTok ‘trend alert’ creators that already exist online, including:
@SocialMediaDelsa
@SydneyOnSocials
@SocialBy.Lu
The general aesthetic and approach these creators take within their content would be replicated in this DA, as it has been proven to be effective (as reflected by their engagement metrics).
(an unintentional ode to collective intelligence)
RELATION TO MODULE
PROTOTYPING
