At the Sourceforge breakfast this morning we got some questions on what the organizational differences are between open source and social media. Here’s my answer:
One of the paradoxes of early 20th Century management was the observation that companies are best run as dictatorships, while countries are best run as democracies. Why was this? Management theorist Charles Barnard, in his theory of the firm, proposed that it was because organizations existed for a common “shared purpose”. Countries, on the other hand, existed only to serve their people.
Shared purpose required singular vision, leadership and top-down control. Serving the people, on the other hand, benefits from bottoms-up recognition of needs and collective decision-making (voting).
Many people mistakenly think that open source projects are emergent, self-organized and democratic. The truth is just the opposite: most are run by a benevolent dictator or two. What makes successful open source projects is leadership, plain and simple. One or two people articulate a vision, start building towards it and bring others on board with specific tasks and permissions. The best projects are the ones with the best leaders.
Social media, on the other hands, doesn’t exist for a shared purpose. It exists to serve the individual. We don’t tweet to built Twitter, we tweet to suit ourselves. We blog because we can, not because we have signed on to a blogging project.
Seen this way, open source projects are like companies. Social media is like a country. Benevolent dictatorships rule the first; democracy the second.
The point: the nature of participation is very different between open source and social media, even though people tend to lump them together into "peer production". Open source is hierarchical by design, while social media structure is simply ruled by popularity.
Real innovation comes from one person's vision, seed of an idea, etc. The next breakthroughs will come from individuals. If their thought and knowledge development or resources are enhanced by social media, that simply speeds the individual development process.
Posted by: water damage | November 14, 2009 at 10:32 PM
I agree with you.
Posted by: rom | November 15, 2009 at 09:21 AM
I agree social media is a country, but it's a country with freedom of speech. Where one can say whatever is on his or her mind with little or no consequence. No dictatorship. So with this I like social media.
Posted by: Tom | November 16, 2009 at 04:07 AM
In the current adminstration? If you look at the human race throughout history we have always been suppressed and supported at the same time....
Do I believe the u.s is democratic the way it is portrayed in the media? But I whole heartedly believe that truth and love always comes out. This is not coming from a new age guru just a young guy who believes that we all have the potential to be great
Posted by: get out of debt | November 16, 2009 at 07:18 PM
Wow! I never thought of it that way. there is some insight there, remove the labels, companies run best when there is 1 person. I wholehartedly agree that is the case. A case of too many cooks in the kitchen is a real threat, and its important to see that early on.
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Posted by: SheilaN | November 17, 2009 at 12:13 PM
Excellent though! I bookmarked your blog for further reading.
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Posted by: Raiz | November 18, 2009 at 06:27 AM
"Social media, on the other hands, doesn’t exist for a shared purpose."
It's a good point, but surely networking is about sharing views, interests, likes and dislikes, and keeping in contact with others. Surely this is for a shared purpose!
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Posted by: Muscle Might | November 19, 2009 at 01:31 AM
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Posted by: Muscle Might | November 19, 2009 at 01:55 AM
The sharing of information and knowledge is paramount to future changes, How can we evolve with social contact? Twitter is just one such tool, however it is being abused by marketing messages. Do you think there will me more or less social websites in the future?
Posted by: natha | November 19, 2009 at 03:56 AM
What a good comparison you have done .Social media is just like a country and open source is just like a company.
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Posted by: Acai Berry | November 23, 2009 at 02:48 AM
Marketing as a whole has really been centering aroudn social media for the last couple of years. I think these are great tips.
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Posted by: Auto Insurance Quotes | November 23, 2009 at 07:31 AM
Excellent thought.
Posted by: Reise Abenteuer | November 23, 2009 at 09:05 PM
perfect ....
Posted by: Reise Abenteuer | November 23, 2009 at 09:06 PM
Open source is nice and good because it marks the advent of a new age where information is ready available to all who desire it.
Posted by: zhu zhu | November 24, 2009 at 09:54 PM
Thats a pretty good way to phrase the dichotomy.
Posted by: zhu zhu | November 25, 2009 at 03:57 AM
Great post. You have stated the difference between the an open source and social media. I bookmarked this site for further reading.
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Posted by: rait | November 25, 2009 at 04:01 AM
Interesting read. I don't see why the author included a picture of a political party. I just don't see the link.
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Posted by: Alex Walton | November 25, 2009 at 05:59 PM
Who ever wrote this post defenetly thinks out side of the box. Good post
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Posted by: Tri Cleanse | November 26, 2009 at 02:58 AM
Wow! I never thought of it that way. That's excellent insight.
I think they can actually be intertwined though as well. I don't necessarily feel they are always so different. It all depends on who and why they are using it.
Posted by: laura | November 26, 2009 at 08:17 PM
Charles Barnard theory holds good for open source projects.
Posted by: rahul | November 26, 2009 at 10:50 PM
i have to agree that Open source and social media are the future of the Internet..and that's for sure my friends
Posted by: Diane Gale | November 28, 2009 at 01:54 PM
I absolutely agree that companies must have a benevolent dictator as its guiding force. But after how 8 years of bad democratic government, I'm open to suggestion regarding the best national governing process.
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Posted by: Seo Company | December 04, 2009 at 12:02 AM
open source is basically dead; the source code is good if you're old like me, and understand it; but it's not useful; gnu is still good; but hey... this is PR.
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Posted by: Michael | December 04, 2009 at 05:11 AM
You need one persons vision and utmost commitment to a project the rest will follow regardless, but the still need to be sheperded.
Does that make any sense? I hope so...
Posted by: Tulum | December 04, 2009 at 06:17 PM
I am agree that Social Media is a power for our Home Management
Posted by: Denologis | December 05, 2009 at 08:59 PM
In my oppinion the more people are involved in a project the more unflexible will the process of archieving your goal be. All those participants have to be connected to each other and this part takes a lot of time.
I like the way you think.
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Posted by: Hypnosisstories | December 06, 2009 at 11:13 AM
I agree it's possible to take the dictatorship thing too far when it comes to running a company. Somebody has to make the decisions and they must be informed decisions. But most are greedy and do not care about others. that is just business
Posted by: JackTripper | December 06, 2009 at 03:37 PM
Great post. You have clearly stated the difference between the an open source and social media.
Posted by: Megaminis | December 06, 2009 at 04:14 PM
"One of the paradoxes of early 20th Century management was the observation that companies are best run as dictatorships, while countries are best run as democracies."
Great quote!
Posted by: Alan | December 06, 2009 at 11:01 PM
"Many people mistakenly think that open source projects are emergent, self-organized and democratic. The truth is just the opposite: most are run by a benevolent dictator or two."
I happen to be one those people you are refering to here, but after reading your post and the comments above, I am having a rethink.
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Posted by: Anthony Young | December 07, 2009 at 08:41 PM
Great job of explaining open source. I also enjoyed Angela's comment. So true!
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Posted by: Jason | December 08, 2009 at 08:25 AM
great
Posted by: Acai Berry | December 08, 2009 at 08:10 PM
"One of the paradoxes of early 20th Century management was the observation that companies are best run as dictatorships, while countries are best run as democracies."
Posted by: Novatius | December 09, 2009 at 07:45 AM
I like the words of the title "Opensouce is a company and Social network is a country" absolutely agree!
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Posted by: Tristan | December 09, 2009 at 03:19 PM
Social media is coming full force and becoming the most dominate part of the internet. It is amazing how fast a lot of these social sites grow, and I cannot imagine them fading away.
Mandy
Posted by: 50 LCD TV | December 09, 2009 at 06:14 PM
Agree, it's just that "dictatorship" sounds so... unnatural?
Posted by: red toaster | December 09, 2009 at 06:57 PM