The Language Of The New Era & Culture Of Participation

Jamais Cascio has an interesting perspective on the emerging culture of participation. In his own words, he sees that the we’re moving into a world where the public, through the use of collaborative tools and open models, can be as effective—sometimes even more effective—than traditional top-down authorities in gathering and analyzing useful information. We hold the world in our hands. We are rapidly developing the tools to allow us to work together, openly, transparently, responsibly, for our mutual betterment. It’s idealistic, but oddly enough, it’s a practical idealism. We know these tools work; we’re only beginning to understand their power. This is, more and more, an era of remarkable possibility—and we all have a role to play.
These terms, and the tools they describe, all build on the concept that working together in ad-hoc, emergent ways, we can accomplish far more than we can either as individuals or as part of some top-down hierarchy.
This list covers some of the characteristics of this emerging participatory culture.
- Collaboration
- Distribution
- Networks over hierarchies
- Transparency
- Ownership of reputation vs. ownership of property
- Ideas are catalysts for more ideas
- Technology-enabled, not technology-focused
Read the full note here.

The internet platform and applications primarily focused on information dissemination, electronic commerce is now fast becoming the base for a myriad of participative engagement tying various strata of the people . The participatory applications span from social software to group productivity applications and these are definitely having a huge impact on the society as a whole. Kevin Kelly noted that the deep enthusiasm for making things, for interacting more deeply than just choosing options, is the great force not reckoned 10 years ago. This impulse for participation has upended the economy and is steadily turning the sphere of social networking - smart mobs, hive minds, and collaborative action - into the main event.