Evgeny Morozov studies online activism and its effect.
These notes are taken from his TED talk which I found at http://www.ted.com/pages/view/id/391
He cites a study which showed that people join facebook groups without verifying information and usually do so as a way to define their own identity.
Blending of narcissism and activism= slactivism, blending of feel good activities which make us feel important but have little practical impact and social significance
This may keep us from participating in more effective ways.
People working in groups are less effective; they are recognized as “social loafers.” People tend to not contribute equally. When people work on the same task, it becomes hard to evaluate their own contributions.
His solutions include:
1. Keep slackers out; create barriers to entry
2. create smart tasks that are meaningful
3. Don’t overdose on wikipedia model; it doesn’t work for everything for each person to only contribute a little bit
