Everyone Knows Everything

In this fascinating look at mass collaboration on the Internet, Marshall Poe takes us on an incredible trip that begins with the origins of human society and ends with the emergence of WikiWorld, the universal sphere in which billions of people create, trade and transform information. The collaborative instincts that underlie web phenomena such as Wikipedia, MySpace, and YouTube, Poe argues, are an integral part of the human condition. We are social beings, after all, and can barely resist the urge to pitch in and be part of something. However, new technology afforded by the Internet is offering everyone unprecedented opportunities to work together.To take one example, Wikipedia started in 2001 with 10 regular contributors and at the beginning of 2007 that figure was closer to 500,000. There's been a similar increase in the number of articles, from the initial 16 to an estimated 5 million today, in at least 200 different languages. As more people join in to shape Wikiworld, so it becomes clear that traditional notions about knowledge and experts need to be redrawn.
Where there used to be a handful of authorities whose word went unchallenged, now there are vast communities of well-informed and dedicated amateurs working together to produce and share information. Poe argues that this 'hive mind' is challenging the vaunted position of authorities - and rewiring how we see the world. An intriguing account of the changes to society, culture and business heralded by Web 2.0, "Everyone Knows Everything" is essential reading for anyone who wants to know more about the online world.