Public Displays of Connection: How Social Media Can Help Repair the News' Trust Problem

[polly7]

In his new book "Friends, Followers and the Future," Rory O'Connor explains how social media helps us form broader connections and stay aware of opposing views.
April 23, 2012

http://www.alternet.org/story/155110/public_displays_of_connection%3A_how_social_media_can_help_repair_the_news%27_trust_problem_/

Excerpted from Friends, Followers and the Future: How Social Media are Changing Politics, Threatening Big Brands and Killing Traditional Media by Rory O'Connor, just published by City Lights. Alternet co-presents Rory O'Connor at City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco on Tuesday, May 1st, 7pm. Event info here.

Long-held conventional beliefs about social networks and the formation of social capital are now running headlong into an area of computer science known as “network theory.” The game-changing power of online social networks is derived most notably from their facilitation of the formation of groups, thus making it easier than ever before to stay in touch with more people with disparate points of view. By greatly decreasing what academic researchers call the “transactional cost of creating bridging social capital,” the tools and technology offered by emerging media enable the finding and sharing of credible news and information through trusted friends and followers—curators and influencers—thus presenting an intriguing possible solution to our ongoing trust dilemma.

Nicco Mele, who ran online operations during the groundbreaking Howard Dean presidential campaign of 2004 (see Chapter 11), describes the theory’s three basic laws as Moore’s Law, which holds that processing power doubles every two years; Metcalfe’s Law, which says that the value of a network depends on number of users of a system; and finally, Reed’s Law that the value of a network is directly related to the ability to form groups within it. In sum, Mele says, network theory dictates that “any relatively large group-forming network will inevitably create what is known as the ‘network effect,’” the phenomenon whereby a service becomes more valuable as more people use it, thereby encouraging ever-increasing numbers of adopters.

“When social capital and community meet online, the result can be a large, group-forming social network that is extremely diverse, highly credible and very powerful,” he explains.

[grasswire]

1. news outlets could repair public trust by telling the truth

...instead of nannying the narrative.