It is undeniable that there have been several key moments that have changed the way we use technology in our society. From Gutenberg printing the Bible with movable type, to the televised Presidential debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon in 1960, to the dot com boom of the late 1990s; these events have all had an impact on how technology shapes the way we live our lives. Perhaps another key moment took place in 2008 when Barry Libert and Jon Spector published their book We Are Smarter Than Me: How to Unleash the Power of Crowds in Your Business.
The goal of the book was to answer two questions. First, the authors wanted to know why community approaches work (or not) when it comes to marketing, business development, distribution, and other business practices. Secondly, the men were interested in finding out what companies have to do to make those community approaches even more successful. What makes this different from other books is the fact that the two men used social media to put it together.
Libert and Spector invited over 1 million users to contribute their answers to these questions in a wiki community. The men gathered answers from comments made by members on the wiki, forums, podcasts, related blog posts, and in-person comments. Web 2.0 technologies have never been used to this extent when creating a book. This collaboration by a wide audience highlights the idea that individuals are more likely to participate if you give them more opportunities to voice their ideas.
As Web 2.0 technologies make mass collaboration like this easier, it will be interesting to see if the publication of this book will be looked at as a turning point in the process of book writing.
This is a clip of an interview with Barry Libert where he talks about the goals of writing and process behind creating We Are Smarter Than Me with Jon Spector.
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