Livingston

Oct
01
2007

Trust the Conversation

1454963008_12a13a216b Chris Heuer’s closing BlogOrlando keynote ended on a final point that as participants, businesses and marketers we need to “trust the conversation.” The gist was the conversation’s end conclusion is oft the right one, and so we should trust the group conscience (photo by Chris Gent).

Trust the conversation had some conditions: That readers/listeners/viewers are able to discern the right path, and they are getting information from multiple sources. Assuming that these things occur and information sources are considered credible, then we need to trust the people making recommendations in our networks.

This gets back to the Wisdom of the Crowds. And to be frank, trusting this conversation has not been easy.

The thing I like about Chris is that he challenges you on the ideals. When asked about the failures that Digg has demonstrated as a vehicle for network-wide wisdom, Chris replied that the conversation realized Digg’s fallacies. In essence the conversation self-corrected.

Still history shows some pretty bad errors with crowd wisdom:

  • The rise of Nazi Germany
  • George W. Bush
  • The initial nationwide support for Iraq

In all three of these cases, the conversation changed direction, but only after egregious actions occurred. In the interim, the minority voice — the voice of the actual right path as time demonstrated — was snuffed out, mocked and ridiculed.

People say that social media is above these kinds of moments, but my experience demonstrates differently. Being right means more than respecting counterpoints. People are more interested in demonstrating their point of view as superior at the expense of others (regrettably, looking back I’m no boy scout, either). This dialogue occurs in place of engaging in civil discourse and accepting differing points of view.

The point is if we are to take Chris Heuer’s advice and trust the conversation, then we need to trust that dissenting views have a very necessary place out here. The voice of the minority balances the wisdom of the crowd, providing a check and balance. Additionally, the minority may represent the crowd’s long-term wisdom.

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.

Parting Thoughts on BlogOrlando

Here’s a video round-up of final BlogOrlando thoughts.

P.S. It was great finding out that Chris and I are both American University alum.

Additional BlogOrlando Coverage

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by Geoff Livingston | Internet Marketing |

5 Responses to “Trust the Conversation”

  • "BlogOrlando demonstrates the culture of generosity" from Pro PR Says:

    October 1st, 2007 at 9:08 am

    [...] Geoff Livingston on Chris Heuer’s wrap up [...]

  • Zej Says:

    October 1st, 2007 at 11:11 am

    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

  • Being Amber Rhea » Blog Archive » links for 2007-10-01 Says:

    October 1st, 2007 at 6:25 pm

    [...] 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) [...]

  • Chris Heuer Says:

    October 2nd, 2007 at 10:48 pm

    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?

  • Geoff Livingston Says:

    October 2nd, 2007 at 10:56 pm

    Chris: Of course I can’t respond to this comment cuz you are making me think again! LOL. You da man!

    GL

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