Comments on: The problem with being popular http://www.mattmcalister.com/blog/2006/04/25/45/the-problem-with-being-popular/ Inside Online Media Mon, 08 Sep 2008 03:25:39 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Matt McAlister » The problem with being popular (part 2) http://www.mattmcalister.com/blog/2006/04/25/45/the-problem-with-being-popular/#comment-70978 Matt McAlister » The problem with being popular (part 2) Tue, 20 Nov 2007 00:24:39 +0000 http://www.mattmcalister.com/blog/2006/04/25/45/the-problem-with-being-popular/#comment-70978 [...] This feeds into a larger argument about why pop culture and the art of being or becoming popular can be a bad thing. Not long ago I was inspired by the movie “Good Night and Good Luck” to dive into this idea myself: “The real problem with popularity-driven models is that they reduce both the breadth and depth of the sources, topics and viewpoints being expressed across a community. Popularity-driven models water down the value in those hard-to-find nuggets. They normalize coverage and create new power structures that interesting things have to fight through.” [...] [...] This feeds into a larger argument about why pop culture and the art of being or becoming popular can be a bad thing. Not long ago I was inspired by the movie “Good Night and Good Luck” to dive into this idea myself: “The real problem with popularity-driven models is that they reduce both the breadth and depth of the sources, topics and viewpoints being expressed across a community. Popularity-driven models water down the value in those hard-to-find nuggets. They normalize coverage and create new power structures that interesting things have to fight through.” [...]

]]> By: Susan Doran http://www.mattmcalister.com/blog/2006/04/25/45/the-problem-with-being-popular/#comment-16 Susan Doran Sun, 07 May 2006 16:45:39 +0000 http://www.mattmcalister.com/blog/2006/04/25/45/the-problem-with-being-popular/#comment-16 eep - I said: The popular kids are nice... but meant the popular kids are *not* nice eep - I said: The popular kids are nice… but meant the popular kids are *not* nice

]]> By: Susan Doran http://www.mattmcalister.com/blog/2006/04/25/45/the-problem-with-being-popular/#comment-15 Susan Doran Sun, 07 May 2006 16:40:34 +0000 http://www.mattmcalister.com/blog/2006/04/25/45/the-problem-with-being-popular/#comment-15 Great article! I tried to broach the topic at the Vancouver IA Summit and found that it, and the bearer of the topic, was distinctly not popular...I'm grateful that a popular person like you has expressed this opinion...perhaps now the topic will be considered worth exploring and discussing by people who tend to base their decisions about whether something is "interesting" or "smart" on whether someone (already rated as popular, interesting, or smart) has determined it thus! I think you hit it on the head about adolescents being most in thrall with external affirmation of their worth and in defining themselves. Ostensibly, once we grow through adolescence we learn that the world is Lord of the Flies only if you choose to buy into and perpetuate that conceptual system. As adults we see there are far more nuances and choices re: how we want to interact with people and the world, what kinds of communities we choose to create and be part of, and how much of the old paradigms we drag with us in defining our lives and a new world. As we get a little life under our belts we're not so desperate for affirmation of our opinion or image by people who we think know better about ourselves than we do. And we see other dimensions of value than: smart, interesting, popular, clever, or cool. Things like being humane, compassionate, kind, thoughtful, ethical, introspective. As an adolescent you consider those attributes stupid--the worst thing you can be called as a teenager is "nice." The popular kids are nice, so why should I try to be?! Clearly nice = weak. But as an adult you learn nice is actually very powerful...takes strength to put yourself out in the world as "nice," and actually does more to effect a new paradigm than attempts to replace traditional, elite conceptions of value with other, new, and equally elite conceptions of value. As an adolescent you don't have a lot of choice. Beyond adolescence you revel in the realization that most of how we live and communiate is a choice. Staying in an adolescent paradigm imo leads to the creation (and necessarily to continuous maintenance) of that same types of hierarchies that many people claim social networking breaks away from---cept that a different crowd of people are at the top of the pyramid and, because the system reinforces their positiona nd amount of trust the community gives them, even less questioning and critical evaluation, and more obedience to the popular-think. Sorry to go on and on...and truly thanks again for the thought-provoking piece. btw if I do check back to see whether there are comments not to sound uppity but it's less to see *who's* saying something or whether people "liked" what I wrote, but whether there are any comments to think about substantively and maybe learn from. Great article! I tried to broach the topic at the Vancouver IA Summit and found that it, and the bearer of the topic, was distinctly not popular…I’m grateful that a popular person like you has expressed this opinion…perhaps now the topic will be considered worth exploring and discussing by people who tend to base their decisions about whether something is “interesting” or “smart” on whether someone (already rated as popular, interesting, or smart) has determined it thus! I think you hit it on the head about adolescents being most in thrall with external affirmation of their worth and in defining themselves. Ostensibly, once we grow through adolescence we learn that the world is Lord of the Flies only if you choose to buy into and perpetuate that conceptual system. As adults we see there are far more nuances and choices re: how we want to interact with people and the world, what kinds of communities we choose to create and be part of, and how much of the old paradigms we drag with us in defining our lives and a new world. As we get a little life under our belts we’re not so desperate for affirmation of our opinion or image by people who we think know better about ourselves than we do. And we see other dimensions of value than: smart, interesting, popular, clever, or cool. Things like being humane, compassionate, kind, thoughtful, ethical, introspective. As an adolescent you consider those attributes stupid–the worst thing you can be called as a teenager is “nice.” The popular kids are nice, so why should I try to be?! Clearly nice = weak. But as an adult you learn nice is actually very powerful…takes strength to put yourself out in the world as “nice,” and actually does more to effect a new paradigm than attempts to replace traditional, elite conceptions of value with other, new, and equally elite conceptions of value. As an adolescent you don’t have a lot of choice. Beyond adolescence you revel in the realization that most of how we live and communiate is a choice. Staying in an adolescent paradigm imo leads to the creation (and necessarily to continuous maintenance) of that same types of hierarchies that many people claim social networking breaks away from—cept that a different crowd of people are at the top of the pyramid and, because the system reinforces their positiona nd amount of trust the community gives them, even less questioning and critical evaluation, and more obedience to the popular-think.

Sorry to go on and on…and truly thanks again for the thought-provoking piece. btw if I do check back to see whether there are comments not to sound uppity but it’s less to see *who’s* saying something or whether people “liked” what I wrote, but whether there are any comments to think about substantively and maybe learn from.

]]> By: Jefferson Jewell http://www.mattmcalister.com/blog/2006/04/25/45/the-problem-with-being-popular/#comment-14 Jefferson Jewell Fri, 05 May 2006 20:10:25 +0000 http://www.mattmcalister.com/blog/2006/04/25/45/the-problem-with-being-popular/#comment-14 The popularity dilemma sounds similar to Pack Journalism (see, e.g., http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pack_Journalism). It's ironic that a wildly popular "method of finding and consuming" is mimicing what many saw as the biggest problem with the old "Big 3-dominated" media model. Like your blog. The popularity dilemma sounds similar to Pack Journalism (see, e.g., http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pack_Journalism).

It’s ironic that a wildly popular “method of finding and consuming” is mimicing what many saw as the biggest problem with the old “Big 3-dominated” media model.

Like your blog.

]]> By: ConTexto » Blog Archive » Popular versus verdadero, en Menéame y más allá http://www.mattmcalister.com/blog/2006/04/25/45/the-problem-with-being-popular/#comment-10 ConTexto » Blog Archive » Popular versus verdadero, en Menéame y más allá Wed, 03 May 2006 09:44:46 +0000 http://www.mattmcalister.com/blog/2006/04/25/45/the-problem-with-being-popular/#comment-10 [...] José Antonio del Moral, de Alianzo, escribe un artículo interesante sobre Menéame (‘Por qué me gusta y me disgusta Menéame’) en el que señala las limitaciones de un sistema basado en el voto de sus usuarios: el algoritmo de Menéame y el de Digg todavía no son perfectos. Les hace falta una vuelta de tuerca. Por ejemplo, Matt McAlister hablaba recientemente del riesgo de que algo falso se convierta en cierto por el simple hecho de que muchos, que pueden estar perfectamente organizados, lo voten o de que muchas cosas interesantes se queden fuera si no gustan a la mayoría. [...] [...] José Antonio del Moral, de Alianzo, escribe un artículo interesante sobre Menéame (‘Por qué me gusta y me disgusta Menéame’) en el que señala las limitaciones de un sistema basado en el voto de sus usuarios: el algoritmo de Menéame y el de Digg todavía no son perfectos. Les hace falta una vuelta de tuerca. Por ejemplo, Matt McAlister hablaba recientemente del riesgo de que algo falso se convierta en cierto por el simple hecho de que muchos, que pueden estar perfectamente organizados, lo voten o de que muchas cosas interesantes se queden fuera si no gustan a la mayoría. [...]

]]> By: Ken Yarmosh http://www.mattmcalister.com/blog/2006/04/25/45/the-problem-with-being-popular/#comment-6 Ken Yarmosh Wed, 26 Apr 2006 11:25:34 +0000 http://www.mattmcalister.com/blog/2006/04/25/45/the-problem-with-being-popular/#comment-6 Great post, Matt. Like the new look. Great post, Matt. Like the new look.

]]> By: David Henderson http://www.mattmcalister.com/blog/2006/04/25/45/the-problem-with-being-popular/#comment-5 David Henderson Wed, 26 Apr 2006 02:11:23 +0000 http://www.mattmcalister.com/blog/2006/04/25/45/the-problem-with-being-popular/#comment-5 My Comments here: http://www.blogs.dhenderson.com/David_Henderson/?p=142 My Comments here:

http://www.blogs.dhenderson.com/David_Henderson/?p=142

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