DIGITAL MAOISM: The Hazards of the New Online Collectivism | Edge.org

With a few exceptions, by far the most important component of successful speech communities is that its moderators have faces . A core feature of bulletin boards, comment threads on blogs, and publications is that the boundaries of acceptable speech are enforced not by tech executives, the farcical Facebook Supreme Court,[xii] or distant buildings ... See more

learn from the limits of Web 2.0, where plurality in the face of centralized control tends to ultimately cede power to those who already wield it.

The Internet has so far forgotten the bias for democracy that long reigned among offline clubs, public companies, and other associations. How can the Internet catch up to my mother’s garden club—or, even better, enable a new renaissance in creative self-governance?

The Internet can enable much more than just a return to regimes of bylaws and boards.... See more