MIT Weighs in on Collective Intelligence

Citing the work of MIT's Center for Collective Intelligence (CCI) and best-selling book The Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki, CIO Magazine has an interesting article MIT Puts Its Mind to Collective Intelligence where they explain MIT's desire to study how individuals harness technology to act intelligently.

There are people who think that collective intelligence is magic, and if you just add it, it'll make everything wonderful.

--Thomas Malone, CCI Director

What do you do when the "crowd" is wrong?

Social Networking and Productivity/Satisfaction

In a recent article from Workforce Performance Solutions, I agree with the author's assertion and title that Strong Social Relationships Increase Productivity, Job Satisfaction.

As we wrestle with this topic as it relates to technology, what is your reaction to the following quote:

...online social networking platforms go a long way toward introducing people and getting them to work together, but strategically planned events and meetings are the best way to encourage true cooperation.

It's the classic chicken/egg question:

Do we need to meet and interact face-to-face before technology can be leveraged? Or, can we leverage technology first?

How do we accommodate the growing number of telecommuting workers?

Social Networking as a Learning Tool

I recently ran across an article from CLO Magazine which is worth wrestling with. After you read the CLO article, I am interested in your thoughts on the following:

Do you believe this "socially motivated Internet activity" has implications to the CLO?

In the article, Alterman says "social networking as a learning tool has to be fun." Do you agree/disagree?

How do you envision the empowerment sites like MySpace, YouTube, etc. have conditioned users will play in an organization that tends to want to monitor and measure what is said?