MetaResponse on Real Time Community
From Internet: Knowledge and Community
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**Building this kind of page**
Below is an example of a collective response. Its not perfect, but perfection comes from collaboration. All we must do to build pages of this type is reorganize information we have already generated. What I did below was take responses to the original question and I took out all the "I's" or "in my opinions" and created categories which these responses could fit under. In this case, the categories were Benefits to Community and Drawbacks to Community because I thought that all the responses fit in either of the two.
Community Inquiry
I would like to explore the types of User Generated Content that apply to or serve various types of communities. Any real-time user generated data that can be used to save lives, prevent accidents, or update critical information would be valuable to communities.
How would a community set standards for the information it receives when both accuracy and timeliness are critical?
Benefits to Community
Some people believe that communities may find great benefit through the use of real time, user generated input. There are many examples of information standards (Seattle Community Network Policies) that can shape user generated content into usable formats for a community. An example can be seen in the online forms which are filled out and submitted to various government agencies. Communities can easily establish information standards by training information receivers. 911 Operators are an example of real time data gathering during crisis situations. The operators have been trained to extract critical components of information from the caller. Communities can use available Information Standards like those found at the Harvard University Library or the Wikipedia's Minimum_Information_Standards as well as training their information receivers on standards and by designing an easy to use format for reporting data.
A great deal of useful user generated content can be found online through the use of search engines, professional list serves and discussion forums. Technical problems may be solved by making inquiries on professional discussion forums. Within minutes, hard to find answers may be located. In the past, very technical problems presented huge problems to non-technical users because the communities with needed information were isolated and out of reach. Various online networks have shortened the distance between technical, professional, and home-user. The successful use of readily available knowledge has encouraged many to engage in greater participation and sharing of information. Information moves more quickly through professional communities which greatly expands the collective knowledge of everyone involved. There are also hidden dangers to this free-flow of information: the use of information requires that the user be cautious about where the information came from and how accurate the information is. Professional communities can regulate who and what is posted fairly easily because they are exclusive communities-- this can cut down on misinformation.
Drawbacks to Community
Some people are of the opinion that not all types of communities can benefit from actual real time data and these people assert that the availability of real time data could prove to be counter productive in some instances. Some are concerned that real time data will prove not to be accurate enough to be of use-- even if can be generated in real or near real time.
A problem with real time user generated content for communities is the cost of access to the internet. Many technologies can exclude communities based on resources, income, etc... There are some questions that must be asked:
- Are there projects which employ user generated content in a way that is not exclusive?
- Can these non-exclusive technologies able to produce results that are of value to communities?
- What kinds of projects would allow communities lacking the resources to leverage the benefits of the internet?
Our ability to monitor real time user generated input, regarding critical infrastructure, is very limited. Without methods in place to ensure accuracy, the use of information from unknown and uncontrolled sources is not realistic in most cases. The threat posed by inaccurate information is still too large for communities to put too much reliance on real time user generated input. Although there are risks posed by misinformation, it seems that any way to help communities sort, parse, and share information among its members will help to build community capacity. It's just a question of how...
Examples of Real Time Data Use by Communities
- An interesting use of GIS is found in community mapping of point source pollution. Where a traditional study would never have had the resources to locate every laundry cleaner, truck refueling station, etc., the use of user generated information (acquired from people who submitted their daily experiences with pollution) was much more thorough than a traditional top-down inquiry could have been. This study took place in West Oakland.
- The internet can provide a community with real time or near real time data. An example can be found at AccuWeather where very many people go to check the real time forecast in my area. Many people also go to various news websites for updates on local news, and many people also access the Dept. of Transportation's website for the latest traffic conditions.
- It seems like User Generated Content in GIS mapping has found some uses for communities, such as the clean-up from the snow storms in D.C. a few years ago, where traditional snow plows weren't available so communities posted blocked roads that needed digging out and people responded by showing up and working together to fix roadways.
