I rarely point to media coverage in which I participate, but I really like this five-minute audio clip on BBC's Digital Planet, in which author Alan Moore and I take different sides of the issue of whether or not companies can spawn communities of passionate, loyal users. He thinks they can and I argue they cannot.
The issue plays directly into my next book, Global Neighborhoods where I am examining the transfer of power from large organizations into communities and where the greatest influencer become the most generous community paricipants. At issue at Content 2.0 was whether that generosity can come from a commercial a centralized commercial entity?
I believe the company-spawned communities are at best benevolent monopolies designed to limit options of the community members. They remind me of company towns of America in the middle of the last century, where companies built entire towns and owned everything in it including the teachers and church leaders. Only the company sold you any goods or services, and community members paid a bitter premium for what they purchased.
Conversely, Alan believes that today's enterprise must adjust to a world in which the emerging social media will dominate and they can use them to create legions of passionate, loyal customers. He uses cycling's Tour de France as an example of a commercially generated community in which everyone benefits. Not a bad case.
The interview was set up by the PR folk supporting Content 2.0, where Alan and I had debated the same issue in longer form. I was impressed with the quality of everything connected with this one-day conference--the speaker roster, the attendees I met, venue, food etc. It seems the program probed the issue of user-generated content from just about every conceivable perspective.
I only regret that I did not have time to attend the speaker's dinner that followed the event. Paula had already purchased tickets to the acclaimed play, "Sundays in the Park with George," which I'm told was terrific. I wouldn't know since I slept through most of it, having found a quiet place to sit down for the first time since I had arrived in London. (Before you post a smarmy comment on this--it was NOT because of my advancing age.)
In any case, I understand that Content 2.0 will be produced again in the fall and if you are anywhere near London at that time, I strongly suggest you attend.
