The Internet has provided many innovative ways for people to communicate, whether that’s through messaging, blogging, Skyping, or e-mailing, ultimately, people are connecting in new ways. These connections allow both businesses and users to collaborate on projects like never before. However, the question become: is this a good thing?
In the Wall Street Journal article, World Wide Mush, and in another article, Is Internet Fueling Collectivism, Jaron Lanier claims that the Internet is leading us into collectivism in which individual creativity is becoming more and more stifled. He asks the question, “What if all of the voices that are piling on end up drowning one another out?” Wikipedia is a prime example of this new collectivism because anyone and everyone can work together to create the content. Lanier and other supporters (including Elton John) argue that such collaboration kills innovation, and leads to a mob mentality.
History can, to a degree, back up Lanier’s argument. Many of the biggest breakthroughs in history have come from individuals going against the the social norm and coming up with brilliant ideas. Many of these ground-breaking ideas were not appreciated until years after their publication. Today, these ideas could be drowned out and lost in the sea of average ideas.
Working together in groups is imperative in many projects and situation to reach the goal. However, it is when too many people start working together that a mob mentality is established, and the results are average. The way to avoid the negative impacts of internet collectivism is to create privacy between teams and individuals working on projects. This way, each team or worker’s individual creativity and innovation is maintained, and the best ideas can be judged from the end product.
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