Welcome: Change is Good!

Back in 2002, I thought it was modestly innovative to hold a conference where online interactions were a core part of the experience, participants helped to co-create the content, information flowed in and out of the event in real-time, and the subject matter ranged across traditional industry boundaries. Modestly, because those developments seemed inevitable in an increasingly connected world. Yet here we are in 2009, and I still get asked about those features of Supernova, as though they were wild and novel. I haven’t changed my view about inevitability. And frankly, Supernova has moved forward a great deal since 2002.

Today, with so many fantastic online tools and information sources, a… Read More

Study: Unselfish Individuals Benefit in Social Networks

Interesting excerpt in the Technology Review on altruism in social networks.  The excerpt:

“How altruistic behaviour emerges has puzzled evolutionary biologists for decades. From the point of view of survival of the fittest, the unselfish concern for the welfare of others seems inexplicable. Surely any organism should always act selfishly if it were truly intent on saving its own bacon.

One explanation is that altruistic acts, although seemingly unselfish, actually benefit those who perform them but in indirect ways. The idea is that unselfish acts are repeated. So those who have been helped go on to help other individuals, ensuring that this behaviour spreads through a group, a phenomenon known as… Read More