There´s no rules

Inspired by Kurtz’ longer blogging style in Washington Post and MacKinnon’s short style I will present my news surf from this week about what I think is interesting and surprising in this wild world of the web. Remember – there’s no rules. Though, you should be cautious of blogging about your job. But maybe not always! 

Surfing the news
Any news about Wikinomics, The Long Tail, The Database of Intentions, Twitter (twittering?),Digg, del.icio.us, and Flickr? I have become addicted to surfing news about these new vocabs in my life. Thanks to GoogleReader and RSS surfing is really an easy way to sort out the information I don’t need.   

Twitter
I don’t get it. But I know I have to dig deeper just like Jeff Jarvis has done. He convinced me that it can be an effective tool for professional use. Who’s interested in my private life of blogging at 1am, baking bread, or shopping at Barnes and Nobles or Barneys – besides advertisers on Facebook and Google?  

Privacy concerns
Just as fascinating the concept of The Database of Intentions is just as scaring it is for privacy matters. Have you tried to change your profile and noticed the shift in ads? Try! Or try like we did in class to target various voters or consumers in Washington DC from www.facebook.com/ads. Are you worried? Or do you think it is a blessing with relevant ads?    

Wikinomics in journalism
Thanks to Jeff Jarvis´Buzzmachine, I have got into this wikinomics of journalism as one more example of how wikinomics are being accepted as a best practice for developing ideas and solutions. The idea of using the wisdom of the crowds instead of a few experts appeals to me. I am looking forward to see the stories that the readers of The Dallas Morning News´ will come back with after studying the new material about the murder of JFK.

Kiva – loans that change life
Social networking is not just about friendship, the long Tail of music, books, or used stuff. Check out Kiva and lend money to entrepreneurs in the developing world. See Bill Clinton´s explanation on You Tube

Do you want to be my Facebook friend?
Does social networking change the concept of friendship? Are Facebookers telling the truth about themselves? Who do you want to make your life accessible to?  

Other questions……
How do we cultivate public opinion or educate citizens/consumers on important issues in the future? How do the government and government agencies handle the challenge of the uncontrolled social media?How do the next president integrate the wisdom of crowds and wikinomics into his or her politics?

Do we need a Bill of Rights for the social web?

Living in a time where markets are conversations and wikinomics is the driving force for innovation there seems to be a contradiction between a Bill of Rights and the social web.  
The new world is described by Tapscott and Williams in their book Wikinomics as “what happens when masses of people and firms collaborate openly to drive innovation and growth in their industries” (p. 11). Collaborating is not just about talking about things but about “peer production that will harness human skill, ingenuity, and intelligence” (p. 18). The principles are openness, peering, sharing, and acting globally. The traditional business model is turned up side down – a thing that Google has also proven – by opening the innovation processes to external experts or users. Companies like Linux, IBM, Lego, Procter and Gamble and others have invited users to take part in their innovation doing that the companies have to share some of their business secrets (open source).  
I guess that is what I do on an individual level using LinkedIn, Facebook, or Google. I share a lot of private information but I trust these companies not to do evil things but to make life easier for me. As Rosie the Third has pointed out I believe individuals benefit from sharing personal information on the social web. Do I and the rest of the users of the social web need legal protection from these companies as I as a citizen get protection of the government in a bill of rights like a constitution?  I do not think so. Social media like Facebook and MySpace are regulated by the trust the users donate to them. If they break the trust of the users they will lose their business. On the other hand, the debate about privacy and Google and Joseph Smarr’s “Bill of Rights for Users of the Social Web” show that users are concerned. The users are increasingly asking companies to focus on who own personal information, how the personal information is shared, and how persistent access to personal information to trusted external sites.  
The companies who are harnessing “procumers” communities have learned the hard way that there are new rules of engagement (Trapschott and Williams, 2006:147). These new rules are not written in a bill of rights, but they are experiences that companies entering the new business world can use as best practice.  

The Bill of Rights for the Users of the Social Web is a blog and part of an ongoing conversation and I think that is the right place to address the challenges and the privacy of the users of the social web. The conversations are the bill of rights for the users of social web because they include rights or best practices that are important and essential to the users.