Comments on: Trust the Conversation http://www.livingstonbuzz.com/2007/10/01/trust-the-conversation/ Musings and analysis on marketing, buzz and communications. Tue, 16 Mar 2010 11:18:39 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Geoff Livingston http://www.livingstonbuzz.com/2007/10/01/trust-the-conversation/comment-page-1/#comment-10213 Geoff Livingston Wed, 03 Oct 2007 03:56:21 +0000 http://www.livingstonbuzz.com/blog/2007/10/01/trust-the-conversation/#comment-10213 Chris: Of course I can’t respond to this comment cuz you are making me think again! LOL. You da man! GL Chris: Of course I can’t respond to this comment cuz you are making me think again! LOL. You da man!

GL

]]> By: Chris Heuer http://www.livingstonbuzz.com/2007/10/01/trust-the-conversation/comment-page-1/#comment-10210 Chris Heuer Wed, 03 Oct 2007 03:48:23 +0000 http://www.livingstonbuzz.com/blog/2007/10/01/trust-the-conversation/#comment-10210 Geoff - it was so great to finally meet in person and get to spend so much time talking about the important stuff. With a little more context for your question now, I would further clarify my remarks to say that you are in fact discussing the foolishness of crowds - or rather at what point do people move from believing conventional wisdom is true to recognizing it is folly. As I am fond of saying (thanks to <a href="http://claimid.com/" rel="nofollow">Terrell Russell</a>) - the great thing about what is happening now is that the crowds (and our social tools) help 'make things visible'. We do change, and we do get smarter over time, but so do those who choose to act upon their misplaced bad intentions. However, we must be aware that it is important to preserve the balance of reason and intuition (logic and emotion) in our decision making - to get multiple sources for our information and to question everything for our own knowing. Tools like Digg reflect and in some cases amplify the nature of our humanity before we can collectively wake up and change once we recognize it. They can cause things like the HEX Key incident or the search for Jim Gray. This is why it is so important to demonstrate their use with good intentions and ethics that serve the market. For the best of all the people affected by our words, actions and decisions. This is really what I strive for in my work, and in our new agency. Learning to "Trust the Conversation" is striving to live our highest ideals and is the first step towards successful human engagements. It has kind of become our mantra at The Conversation Group stemming from a great conversation between Ted Shelton, Giovanni Rodriguez and I. So yes, the wisdom of crowds is self correcting, but it is dependent upon individuals to courageously speak their truth like the monks in Myanamar/Burma. It requires others to take right action. If we can't, trust the conversation though, we will never hear the voice of that monk, or hear the other side of the story. Would you rather accept the word of a single individual or organization, or talk with others in the community to discuss the questions that matter? Geoff – it was so great to finally meet in person and get to spend so much time talking about the important stuff.

With a little more context for your question now, I would further clarify my remarks to say that you are in fact discussing the foolishness of crowds – or rather at what point do people move from believing conventional wisdom is true to recognizing it is folly.

As I am fond of saying (thanks to Terrell Russell) – the great thing about what is happening now is that the crowds (and our social tools) help ‘make things visible’. We do change, and we do get smarter over time, but so do those who choose to act upon their misplaced bad intentions. However, we must be aware that it is important to preserve the balance of reason and intuition (logic and emotion) in our decision making – to get multiple sources for our information and to question everything for our own knowing. Tools like Digg reflect and in some cases amplify the nature of our humanity before we can collectively wake up and change once we recognize it.

They can cause things like the HEX Key incident or the search for Jim Gray. This is why it is so important to demonstrate their use with good intentions and ethics that serve the market. For the best of all the people affected by our words, actions and decisions. This is really what I strive for in my work, and in our new agency.

Learning to “Trust the Conversation” is striving to live our highest ideals and is the first step towards successful human engagements. It has kind of become our mantra at The Conversation Group stemming from a great conversation between Ted Shelton, Giovanni Rodriguez and I.

So yes, the wisdom of crowds is self correcting, but it is dependent upon individuals to courageously speak their truth like the monks in Myanamar/Burma. It requires others to take right action. If we can’t, trust the conversation though, we will never hear the voice of that monk, or hear the other side of the story. Would you rather accept the word of a single individual or organization, or talk with others in the community to discuss the questions that matter?

]]> By: Being Amber Rhea » Blog Archive » links for 2007-10-01 http://www.livingstonbuzz.com/2007/10/01/trust-the-conversation/comment-page-1/#comment-10134 Being Amber Rhea » Blog Archive » links for 2007-10-01 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 23:25:01 +0000 http://www.livingstonbuzz.com/blog/2007/10/01/trust-the-conversation/#comment-10134 [...] Trust the Conversation » The Buzz Bin “To trust the conversation, we need to have a higher level of conversation. We need to allow minority opinions to openly and comfortably express themselves rather than trying to stifle them.” Good points in this post. (And I’m sick of the word ‘conversati (tags: socialmedia newmedia community dissent) [...] [...] Trust the Conversation » The Buzz Bin “To trust the conversation, we need to have a higher level of conversation. We need to allow minority opinions to openly and comfortably express themselves rather than trying to stifle them.” Good points in this post. (And I’m sick of the word ‘conversati (tags: socialmedia newmedia community dissent) [...]

]]> By: Zej http://www.livingstonbuzz.com/2007/10/01/trust-the-conversation/comment-page-1/#comment-10114 Zej Mon, 01 Oct 2007 16:11:24 +0000 http://www.livingstonbuzz.com/blog/2007/10/01/trust-the-conversation/#comment-10114 Geoff, A pretty stark set of examples to debunk crowd mentality. However, the three cases you mention are political and in each of them, it could be argued that popular opinion was manipulated if not even distorted (i.e. the popular vote in 2000). In fact public opinion has corrected itself on Bush. Also, are political markets identical to consumer markets in popular opinion feedback mechanisms? Good blogging buddy, dv Geoff,
A pretty stark set of examples to debunk crowd mentality. However, the three cases you mention are political and in each of them, it could be argued that popular opinion was manipulated if not even distorted (i.e. the popular vote in 2000). In fact public opinion has corrected itself on Bush.

Also, are political markets identical to consumer markets in popular opinion feedback mechanisms?

Good blogging buddy,

dv

]]> By: "BlogOrlando demonstrates the culture of generosity" from Pro PR http://www.livingstonbuzz.com/2007/10/01/trust-the-conversation/comment-page-1/#comment-10103 "BlogOrlando demonstrates the culture of generosity" from Pro PR Mon, 01 Oct 2007 14:08:29 +0000 http://www.livingstonbuzz.com/blog/2007/10/01/trust-the-conversation/#comment-10103 [...] Geoff Livingston on Chris Heuer’s wrap up [...] [...] Geoff Livingston on Chris Heuer’s wrap up [...]

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