Questioning Authority Online
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Fri, 07/13/2007 - 10:19
Yesterday, I asked “Why are you reading this blog entry”. I received several comments that I found particularly heartening. People were interested in “uncovering new ideas”. This is in distinct contrast to the concern that so many people have expressed. EPIC 2014 ends with a comment about “EPIC is merely a collection of trivia, much of it untrue, all of it narrow, shallow and sensational.” This reflects a concern about citizen journalism, social media and the general direction of the Web that many people fear.
Andrew Keen takes up this theme in his book, the cult of the amateur. He talks about attending FOO camp which he describes as “a beta version of the Web 2.0 revolution” where “Everyone was simultaneously broadcasting themselves, but nobody was listening.” This comment particularly resonates with me. I often talk about how everyone wants to be heard, and no one wants to listen.
However, EPIC 2014 goes on to say, “It didn’t have to be this way” and it seems as if, at least from the responses I’ve been getting, it isn’t that way. Indeed, most of us are well enough socialized to listen to those around us, whether we are at a party or on the web.
Keen goes on to say, “The more that was said that weekend, the less I wanted to express myself. As the din of narcissism swelled, I became increasingly silent.” As therapist friends of mine are want to say, “Methinks he dost protest too much.” He certainly hasn’t been silent in writing or promoting the book. I have to wonder whose narcissism swelled and was injured.
Years ago, I attended various Group Relations Conferences. To use the language from the Group Relations Conference website where they describe a conference last May, as group relations conference is “an experiential conference in the Tavistock Tradition… designed for individuals who wish to study the exercise of authority in groups and understand more about their own reactions to exercising and encountering authority”
The ability for anyone to publish online challenges the some of the traditional authority structures and sources of authority. It seems as if this is what bothers Mr. Keen so much.
Through the MyBlogLog community, I stumbled across a way to virally promote the ‘authority’ of your blog, at least according to Technorati. Technorati views authority in terms of the number of people linking to your blog. This isn’t particularly a new idea. Authority in the academic world is based, at least in part, on how many people reference what you have written in their articles. A difference is that those articles typically undergo peer review before being published so it is more difficult to game the system the way the virally linking is gaming the Technorati system.
So, we have new communication tools which provide new ways of looking at, understanding and attempting to establish authority. We have authors like Andrew Keen trying to defend older methods of controlling who has authority. Perhaps what we really need are more people exploring the group relations’ tradition to better understand their own reactions to authority, especially as it now manifests itself online.
So, let me end this with a question for any readers that still remain. How do you experience authority online, both the authority of others, and your own authority? How do you determine the authority of websites you visit? How do you attempt to establish your own authority? And, to use the over used psychological cliché, how does it make you feel?
Questioning Authority Online
Submitted by reasonable robinson on Fri, 07/13/2007 - 11:23.A key question - have you seen Migs blog on Pamil Vision - it prompted me to add to the meme on this topic too.
How do we know what to believe - how do people gain 'authority'
thanks again Aldon for provoking great discussion
regards
RR
Authority
Submitted by BethPena on Fri, 07/13/2007 - 22:40.Aldon - I have spent most of my life fighting authority. When I blog, I agree, I blog mostly to get my thoughts out. Amazingly enough, people want to read this. And, I want there feedback and answers. I then go and read their blogs, because they think like I do. The authority model is quickly becoming outdated, and those who depend on it for their ego gratification, will soon be disappointed....
Interesting discussion
Submitted by shinewithgrace on Sat, 07/14/2007 - 00:17.Hi Aldon,
Nice post and glad to see that you've started this interesting project.
To answer two of your questions: (1) I am reading this post as I'm looking for sth. new, sth. interesting and sth. thought provoking. (2) In regard to authority, I try to ensure that everything appears on my site have my endorsement. I link to a site if I enjoy it and would to introduce it to my readers.
Authority!!!!!!!!
Submitted by immerhere on Sat, 07/14/2007 - 08:41.Hum... Personally, I always suspect people who talk to me about Authority (in every aspect and meaning of the word). If I write and blog it is because I want to share my opinions and if people want to share their opinion with me this should be because they share my ideas, or like to discuss theirs not because they want to gain some kind of popularity contest...
I would be all against that... This is not seeing the BIG PICTURE, usually, people will come back to you if they like you and agree with with what you do, not if they think that you are after their VOTE.
Martine
Random responses
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sat, 07/14/2007 - 14:56.First, let me say that I really appreciate the response that you have added. Thank you. Like Beth, I’ve spent a lot of my life fighting authority. It made the first Group Relations Conference I attended particularly interesting, especially since the consultant into the small group I was part of was some Harvard professor. Having “Harvard Professor” as part of your title automatically imbues you with a certain amount of authority in many people’s eyes.
Yet I don’t think we should completely through out the idea of authority. Instead we should look at alternative ways of establishing authority. I believe that much of this is happening online when we people decide which sites to return to. These decisions are made based on how closely the writers views coincide with the readers view. This part of the decision can be unfortunate in that it can lead to people surrounding themselves with others that agree with them, instead of seeking out new ideas. Endorsements, both of the author of the site, and perhaps more importantly, supporting information from others is a standard rhetorical device used to bring a greater sense of authority or trustworthiness to the site. In many ways, a great source of authority is simply good writing.
Pirsig talks about how most people recognize ‘quality’ when they see it, and I hope that traffic to various sites end up being driven by this recognition of quality. It feels to me that this is what draws me back to many of the sites I regularly visit.
Martine’s concern about people being after other’s vote is important. I spend a lot of time in politics and I think of that vote in terms of how one pulls a lever in a polling place, yet really, we all are after other’s ‘votes’. We want a vote of confidence. We want people to like us and what we write. We want people to like our opinions and adopt them for themselves. Some of us try to sell product online and we want them to buy what we are selling. There are many types of votes.
I think this comes back to the key thing that I was talking about early on in my blog post. Everyone wants to be heard, no one wants to listen. If all that a writer is after is someone’s vote, in whatever way you think about votes, then they are talking but not listening, and many of us, like Martine, are unlikely to come back to sites that we don’t feel heard at or connected with.
Again, thank you for everyone for your thoughts. I hope we can explore this further in the future.
So true...
Submitted by immerhere on Sat, 07/14/2007 - 17:14.Thank you for your note Aldon,
Yes, this is an immense subject. And even though authority is something against what I have always rebelled, I must say that I am all for the old values of discipline, work, honesty and over all, courtesy and politeness. Please, give me back the days when people were respecting one another!!!!!!!!!!!!
Having said that, authority should not be placed in any hands and should always be used with care. This is what I meant. I am a firm believer of justice, real justice and something that I really cannot stand is injustice, unfairness and this mascarade of justice where people are always biased. This is what I am trying to fight against... a very difficult fight I must add...
Nevertheless, when it comes to blogging, I don't think that authority is a good word, and it should be changed into something else that would mean that we want recognition, not authority. Because this is what we want, be recognized for who we are and what we want to offer.
Martine