‘Twitter is an attention Tragedy Of The Commons in progress’

By on February 2, 2009 in Opinion

Have a read of the discussion here and then Mike’s quote below…

For people with Discretionary Attention Deficit (DAD) like Ew4n, Twitter is an attention Tragedy Of The Commons in progress. There is no tool except the blunt on-off.

Do you agree? Is there a Tragedy of The Commons in progress?

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  • South77

    Kind of agree of in this case.

    Although the original tragedy of the commons theory (grazing rights in the African Savanna, IIRC) is now discredited.

    WiFi also seems to still be working, depsite alarmists claims that it would all fall over as things got busy.

  • Mike42

    er…I think you'll find that TOTC is alive and kicking, not as a theory but hard fact. Anyone who fishes the almost completely stuffed open seas is living embodiment of TOTC.

    Just ask anyone managing 'public' spectrum, such as that used by wireless microphones, cordless telephones etc. It's a warzone.

    And ask anyone going to Barcelona this month if their WiFi experience is a good one as things get 'busy'…by definition, any more than 3 perfectly-channel-spaced WiFi devices wil interfere with each other. The answer used to be to turn up the power, but that basically resulted in slow throughput for all. Things are a bit smarter nowadays, but you still have a finite amount of spectrum, set receiver/antenna sensitivity and devices that can cover a fair way. So in apartment buildings / campuse etc the tragedy of the 2.4GHz spectrum commons is often realised.

  • South77

    Fishing — yes a good example.

    The grazing rights example was, I think, shot down because “commons” systems had worked well for centuries until colonialism upset embedded cultural/social rules of use.

    With over fishing it's pretty much every man for himself , with not enough people thinking about the consequences. A bit like WiFi at a trade show — so, yes, in that context also a good example.

  • South77

    Kind of agree in this case.

    Although the original tragedy of the commons theory (grazing rights in the African Savanna, IIRC) is now discredited.

    WiFi also seems to still be working, depsite alarmists claims that it would all fall over as things got busy.

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  • Mike42

    er…I think you'll find that TOTC is alive and kicking, not as a theory but hard fact. Anyone who fishes the almost completely stuffed open seas is living embodiment of TOTC.

    Just ask anyone managing 'public' spectrum, such as that used by wireless microphones, cordless telephones etc. It's a warzone.

    And ask anyone going to Barcelona this month if their WiFi experience is a good one as things get 'busy'…by definition, any more than 3 perfectly-channel-spaced WiFi devices wil interfere with each other. The answer used to be to turn up the power, but that basically resulted in slow throughput for all. Things are a bit smarter nowadays, but you still have a finite amount of spectrum, set receiver/antenna sensitivity and devices that can cover a fair way. So in apartment buildings / campuse etc the tragedy of the 2.4GHz spectrum commons is often realised.

  • South77

    Fishing — yes a good example.

    The grazing rights example was, I think, shot down because “commons” systems had worked well for centuries until colonialism upset embedded cultural/social rules of use.

    With over fishing it's pretty much every man for himself , with not enough people thinking about the consequences. A bit like WiFi at a trade show — so, yes, in that context also a good example.

  • Pingback: Steve Howard

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