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Lasse van den Bosch Christensen
Lasse van den Bosch Christensen


<P LANG="en-US">SKELETON</P>
<p>SKELETON</p>
<H1 LANG="en-US"><A NAME="title-i-for-one-welcome-our-new-overlords"></A>
<h1 id="title-i-for-one-welcome-our-new-overlords">TITLE: I, for one, welcome our new Overlords</h1>
TITLE: I, for one, welcome our new Overlords</H1>
<h2 id="questions">QUESTIONS</h2>
<H2 LANG="en-US" CLASS="western"><A NAME="questions"></A>QUESTIONS</H2>
<p>What are the characteristics of relationships between a provider of a controlled, closed platform and its community?</p>
<P LANG="en-US">What are the characteristics of relationships between
<p>Is such a relationship only biased towards the provider? Meaning that the provider hosts the platform, nourish and build up the community on the purpose to generate a monetary value.</p>
a provider of a controlled, closed platform and its community?</P>
<p>How are feelings of both awe and frustration expressed towards the provider during critical periods within platform such as a program-retirement.</p>
<P LANG="en-US">Is such a relationship only biased towards the
<p>How does a community resist the provider?</p>
provider? Meaning that the provider hosts the platform, nourish and
<h2 id="introcommunity-panic">INTRO:COMMUNITY PANIC</h2>
build up the community on the purpose to generate a monetary value.</P>
<p>In may 2012 Google announces to sell it's popular 3D-modeling-software Google Sketchup. Within the ownership of Google, the software gained a lot of attention as a tool to populate Google Earth with models made in Google Sketchup. A strong community of so-called 'geo-modelers' grew forth aided and supported by Google. On a voluntary basis these dedicated modelers would spend hours building models to be pushed to Google Earth, motivated by pride in having 'modeled your own town' and knowing that you would be part of a community that actually would build a virtual copy of the earth.</p>
<P LANG="en-US">How are feelings of both awe and frustration
<p>In this introductory chapter i will describe situation, setting and spirit within the community of voluntary geo-modellers in the immediate after wake of the selling. How users panicked, showing their frustration by cutting their contributions, but also how others had immense faith in the new, as well as the old provider. They welcomed the new Overlords.</p>
expressed towards the provider during critical periods within
<h3 id="focus-a-traumatized-community-uncertain-future-prospects.">FOCUS: A traumatized community; uncertain future prospects.</h3>
platform such as a program-retirement.</P>
<pre class="western"><code>    ...I deleted all my [...] models!
<P LANG="en-US">How does a community resist the provider?</P>
<H2 LANG="en-US" CLASS="western"><A NAME="introcommunity-panic"></A>INTRO:COMMUNITY
PANIC</H2>
<P LANG="en-US">In may 2012 Google announces to sell it's popular
3D-modeling-software Google Sketchup. Within the ownership of Google,
the software gained a lot of attention as a tool to populate Google
Earth with models made in Google Sketchup. A strong community of
so-called 'geo-modelers' grew forth aided and supported by Google. On
a voluntary basis these dedicated modelers would spend hours building
models to be pushed to Google Earth, motivated by pride in having
'modeled your own town' and knowing that you would be part of a
community that actually would build a virtual copy of the earth.</P>
<P LANG="en-US">In this introductory chapter i will describe
situation, setting and spirit within the community of voluntary
geo-modellers in the immediate after wake of the selling. How users
panicked, showing their frustration by cutting their contributions,
but also how others had immense faith in the new, as well as the old
provider. They welcomed the new Overlords.</P>
<H3 LANG="en-US" CLASS="western"><A NAME="focus-a-traumatized-community-uncertain-future-prospects."></A>
FOCUS: A traumatized community; uncertain future prospects.</H3>
<PRE CLASS="western"><CODE CLASS="western">    </CODE><CODE CLASS="western"><SPAN LANG="en-US">...I deleted all my [...] models!</SPAN></CODE>
 
<CODE CLASS="western"><SPAN LANG="en-US">...I will also delete all my models!</SPAN></CODE>
 
<CODE CLASS="western">                </CODE><CODE CLASS="western"><SPAN LANG="en-US">...It is Over.</SPAN></CODE>


<CODE CLASS="western"><SPAN LANG="en-US">...People are starting to Jump! </SPAN></CODE>
...I will also delete all my models!


                ...It is Over.


...People are starting to Jump!


<CODE CLASS="western">  </CODE><CODE CLASS="western"><SPAN LANG="en-US">...I, for one, welcome our new [...] Overlords.</SPAN></CODE></PRE><P LANG="en-US">
Shortly after Google officially announces the selling of it's popular
3D-software 'Google Sketchup', panic is spreading amongst it's huge
3d-modellers community. The users are split in two camps; one camp
skeptical towards the unknown implications of an owner change, while
the second camp tries to pour oil on the troubled waters attempting a
more pragmatic, optimistic approach.</P>
<P LANG="en-US">FURTHER: explain the purpose of the thesis - what
will happen.</P>
<P LANG="en-US">With the notion of 'crowdsourcing', and the current
case as a vantage point this text seeks to cover the dynamics of
user-provider relationships, looking critically at pitfalls and
'positives' of such symbiosis.</P>
<H2 LANG="en-US" CLASS="western"><A NAME="i-another-case"></A>I:
Another Case</H2>
<P LANG="en-US">(book: Uncovering Labour in Information Revolutions,
1750–2000,
http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/history/regional-and-world-history-general-interest/uncovering-labour-information-revolutions-17502000-volume-11)</P>
<P LANG="en-US">This chapter will see the topic in perspective to the
'AOL Community Leader Program'. This case has quite strong parallels
to the situation within the Sketchup community. Former community
leaders describes their relationship with AOL &quot;like a bad
relationship&quot;, hard to get out of, while geo-modellers express
similar 'bittersweet' frustrations. It will look at AOL's argument
for using the community: 'This whole volunteerism community and the
participants are what makes the Internet' and engage in the
discussion of the Utopian visions of the internet and how it has been
appropriated to accommodate a business model.</P>
<P LANG="en-US">The 'AOL Community Leader Program' roots dates back
to the use of online remote volunteer &quot;guides&quot; by AOL
predecessor QuantumLink at its start in 1985. In the early 1990s 'The
Community Leader Program' was officially established, running until
its discontinuation in 2005. At the peak of the program, it is
estimated that AOL had approximately 14,000 volunteers.(book:Aol by
George) AOL customers could volunteer to become 'Community Leaders',
carrying a wide range of responsibilities such as hosting chats,
board-monitoring, providing customer service and managing forum
content. &quot;In exchange for their services, AOL provided free
service to their volunteers. Community Leaders also received special
accounts (Price Index 77 or Overhead Accounts) that allowed them to
restrict disruptive chat, hide inappropriate message board postings,
and access private areas on the AOL service, such as the Community
Leader Headquarters (CLHQ).&quot; (wiki)</P>
<P LANG="en-US">&quot;Although at times controversial, the Community
Leader program arguably played a substantial role in the rapid growth
and success of the America Online service in the mid-1990s. Because
they were usually recruited from the more active users of a
particular online forum, Community Leaders were often very passionate
about the area for which they volunteered their time. This enthusiasm
usually resulted in a greater sense of community and a higher level
of professionalism in that forum. This in turn gave the AOL service
more value over the less organized &quot;frontier&quot; of the
Internet, at least in the eyes of users new to the online scene at
the time. It also provided oversight with respect to forum content by
knowledgeable individuals.&quot; (wiki)</P>
<P LANG="en-US">In 1999 seven former community leaders &quot;asked
the Department of Labor to investigate whether AOL owes them back
wages. On May 25, two of the seven filed a complaint against AOL in
federal court in New York, the first volley in a class-action lawsuit
that is expected to drag on for over a year. Their attorney Leon
Greenberg contends that the arrangement amounts to an illegal
&quot;cyber-sweatshop.&quot; On July 22, AOL announced the
elimination of its youth corps, 350 teenaged CLs. Scores of people
have asked to join the lawsuit, say its filers. Meanwhile, the other
13,643-odd volunteers continue to report to &quot;work&quot; on AOL.</P>
<P LANG="en-US">Who are these people who choose to personify the
800-pound gorilla of the online world, night after night, virtually
for free? And what in the world did AOL do to anger this posse? As
much as the lawsuit's outcome will set a precedent for compensating
online labor in the future, it offers a window into the weird and
wacky world of cyber-codependence - right at the intersection between
corporate and personal identity.</P>
<P LANG="en-US">&quot;I'm torn by the lawsuit,&quot; says Nancy, who
is typical of the dozen CLs interviewed for this story. On the one
hand, she'd like to get paid for her work; on the other, she doesn't
want to lose her volunteer position. Keep her talking, though, and
Nancy starts to sound less like a disgruntled employee and more like
a battered wife. &quot;I love AOL even though they're really shitty
to me,&quot; she laughs. &quot;It's like a bad relationship I can't
get out of.&quot;</P>
<P LANG="en-US">(wired 1999:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/7.10/volunteers.html)</P>
<P LANG="en-US">AOL and many other Internet companies have gone a
step further, enlisting volunteers in a structured fashion to help
control the traffic that can verge on chaos in the virtual world. The
question raised now is whether such companies are riding to
profitability on the backs of unpaid workers.</P>
<P LANG="en-US">AOL defends the system, saying it's part of the
culture of the Web.</P>
<P LANG="en-US">''This whole volunteerism community and the
participants are what makes the Internet,'' said AOL spokeswoman Ann
Brackbill.</P>
<P LANG="en-US">Ms. Brackbill said volunteer work is coordinated by
the company, since the company manages ''tens of thousands of chat
rooms'' and needs to organize the services of its many volunteers.</P>
<P LANG="en-US">But she said the tasks performed by the volunteers
``are very different from AOL employees, and we would make sure of
that.''</P>
<P LANG="en-US">Ivillage.com, an Internet company where 1,100
volunteers outnumber staffers by more than five to one, issued a
brief statement Wednesday defending its use of volunteers.</P>
<P LANG="en-US">''IVillage.com community leaders are true volunteers
and not employees,'' the statement said. ''Our hope is that the
Internet's participatory nature is not what's at issue here.''</P>
<P LANG="en-US">(AP 1999:
http://www.apnewsarchive.com/1999/AOL-Volunteers-Claim-Exploitation/id-2a5f7b2fbaa68ee2e71d580f8a2b8b6c)</P>
<H2 LANG="en-US" CLASS="western"><A NAME="ii-productive-users"></A>II:
PRODUCTIVE USERS</H2>
<H3 LANG="en-US" CLASS="western"><A NAME="focus-how-to-harness-the-crowd-to-produce-a-desired-output"></A>
FOCUS: How to harness the crowd to produce a desired output?</H3>
<P LANG="en-US">This chapter will extend the argument of exploitation
of the &quot;Internet's participatory nature&quot; and look at more
recent developments within this sphere. The idea of Crowdsourcing
will be presented, as the key idea for shaping users who,
essentially, will work for free. Here Jeff Hoeve's bible 'Crowd
Sourcing - Why the Power of the Crowd Is Driving the Future of
Business' will be used as central source.</P>
<P LANG="en-US">With this approach I will rewind to the case of
Google Sketchup, and dig further into the reasons for google to
provide such software, and subsequently selling it. Flowingly an the
official statement by the Google-team, on the acquisition of
Sketchup:</P>
<P LANG="en-US">&quot;...Already we’ve had hundreds of users create
3D content in SketchUp and place their models in Google Earth. (A
free plug-in enables you to do this.) What will that virtual world
look like when tens of thousands of users are doing the same?&quot;</P>
<P LANG="en-US">(http://googleblog.blogspot.nl/2006/03/new-home-for-last-software.html
)</P>
<P LANG="en-US">I will address the Google Educational program, which
provided teaching for children/youth in the use of sketchup. Is this
a sign of creating even more users, who are actually users; they are
addicted to the software and very dependent on it.</P>
<P LANG="en-US">I will address how world-wide competitions were set
up by Google, such as 'Model your Town', as a mean to effeciently
build up a troop of dedicated, spending hours competing but also
guiding and aiding each other. All for the sake of enriching a Google
product.</P>
<H2 LANG="en-US" CLASS="western"><A NAME="iii-more-than-a-user"></A>III:
More than a user?</H2>
<H3 LANG="en-US" CLASS="western"><A NAME="focus-mutual-dependence-broaden-the-perspective-of-the-second-chapter.-bring-back-aol-but-also-ge-examples-look-at-the-sweet-in-the-bittersweet"></A>
FOCUS: Mutual dependence? Broaden the perspective of the second
chapter. Bring back AOL but also GE-examples, look at the sweet in
the bittersweet?</H3>
<P LANG="en-US">After having discussed the exploitation of the users
in building up the virtual world for free, i will return to the
community and address the fact that the users evolves strong
emotional bonds towards the platform, each other as users, and the
content they've produced. The provider plays a less 'dominant' role
since the production is 'benefiting' the user it self. That is until
this decides to shut down the platform.</P>
<UL>
<LI><P LANG="en-US" STYLE="margin-bottom: 0in">Enthusiasm amongst
the users towards the provider but also towards each other.
</P>
<LI><P LANG="en-US" STYLE="margin-bottom: 0in">Welcoming the new
Overlords
</P>
<LI><P LANG="en-US" STYLE="margin-bottom: 0in">Users benefit from
genuine relationships with other users
</P>
<LI><P LANG="en-US" STYLE="margin-bottom: 0in">The provider, until a
certain point, is dependent on content to be produced by the
community. It actually has to invest time/energy/money in building
up the community and spreading the program.
</P>
<LI><P LANG="en-US" STYLE="margin-bottom: 0in">While Google Earth is
a product of Google, it's content has been created by real
human-beings. It expresses a need for individuals to express
themselves and build 'stuff' in participation with other
individuals.
</P>
<LI><P LANG="en-US">Google Earth as 'a huge piece of craftsmanship
and art' full of inconsistencies reflecting on all the various
people around the world involved.
</P>
</UL>
<HR>
<H1 LANG="en-US"><A NAME="unordered-notesclippings"></A>unordered
notes/clippings</H1>
<P LANG="en-US">[...] As long as &quot;WE&quot; still have control
over editing and the model information we uploaded remains the same,
I won't care about anything else (that I can think of right now
anyway). Furthermore, as long as the models still identify the
Modeler .... so that &quot;WE&quot; are still recognized for each of
our works, I think I'll be satisfied.</P>
<P LANG="en-US">People are starting to Jump, personally I've started
to remove models on a graduated basis. Regards,</P>
<P LANG="en-US">We're doing our best. Please be patient and again,
try not to react harshly (like removing models) until all the
information is published.</P>
<P LANG="en-US">All I can say is &quot;Beware of Greeks Baring Gifts&quot;
Be very careful what you ask for as one day it just might come true
and unfortunately, just when you least expect it and if you think a
&quot;overlord&quot; is welcoming just look at history.</P>
<P LANG="en-US">Crowdsourcing theory...: Main critique</P>
<P LANG="en-US">//game-theory: design systems which generate outcome
for the provider but enables 'freedom' for the individual. --&gt;
leads to next chapter</P>
<P LANG="en-US">Provider/Workers-relationship</P>
<PRE CLASS="western"><CODE CLASS="western"><SPAN LANG="en-US">- game-theory</SPAN></CODE>
<CODE CLASS="western"><SPAN LANG="en-US">- crowd-control</SPAN></CODE>
<CODE CLASS="western"><SPAN LANG="en-US">- self-constrainment</SPAN></CODE>


<CODE CLASS="western"><SPAN LANG="en-US">- design systems which generate outcome for the provider but enables 'freedom' for the individual.</SPAN></CODE>


<CODE CLASS="western"><SPAN LANG="en-US">- holmes/cybernetics</SPAN></CODE>
  ...I, for one, welcome our new [...] Overlords.</code></pre>
<CODE CLASS="western"><SPAN LANG="en-US">- regulation/law/lessig</SPAN></CODE>
<p>Shortly after Google officially announces the selling of it's popular 3D-software 'Google Sketchup', panic is spreading amongst it's huge 3d-modellers community. The users are split in two camps; one camp skeptical towards the unknown implications of an owner change, while the second camp tries to pour oil on the troubled waters attempting a more pragmatic, optimistic approach.</p>
<CODE CLASS="western"><SPAN LANG="en-US">- Latour: </SPAN></CODE></PRE><P LANG="en-US">
<p>FURTHER: explain the purpose of the thesis - what will happen.</p>
'Between a car driver that slows down near a school because she has
<p>With the notion of 'crowdsourcing', and the current case as a vantage point this text seeks to cover the dynamics of user-provider relationships, looking critically at pitfalls and 'positives' of such symbiosis.</p>
seen the ‘30 MPH’ yellow sign and a car driver that slows down
<h2 id="i-another-case">I: Another Case</h2>
because he wants to protect the suspension of his car threatened by
<p>(book: Uncovering Labour in Information Revolutions, 1750–2000, http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/history/regional-and-world-history-general-interest/uncovering-labour-information-revolutions-17502000-volume-11)</p>
the bump of a ‘speed trap’, is the difference big or small? Big,
<p>This chapter will see the topic in perspective to the 'AOL Community Leader Program'. This case has quite strong parallels to the situation within the Sketchup community. Former community leaders describes their relationship with AOL &quot;like a bad relationship&quot;, hard to get out of, while geo-modellers express similar 'bittersweet' frustrations. It will look at AOL's argument for using the community: 'This whole volunteerism community and the participants are what makes the Internet' and engage in the discussion of the Utopian visions of the internet and how it has been appropriated to accommodate a business model.</p>
since the obedience of the first has gone through morality, symbols,
<p>The 'AOL Community Leader Program' roots dates back to the use of online remote volunteer &quot;guides&quot; by AOL predecessor QuantumLink at its start in 1985. In the early 1990s 'The Community Leader Program' was officially established, running until its discontinuation in 2005. At the peak of the program, it is estimated that AOL had approximately 14,000 volunteers.(book:Aol by George) AOL customers could volunteer to become 'Community Leaders', carrying a wide range of responsibilities such as hosting chats, board-monitoring, providing customer service and managing forum content. &quot;In exchange for their services, AOL provided free service to their volunteers. Community Leaders also received special accounts (Price Index 77 or Overhead Accounts) that allowed them to restrict disruptive chat, hide inappropriate message board postings, and access private areas on the AOL service, such as the Community Leader Headquarters (CLHQ).&quot; (wiki)</p>
sign posts, yellow paint, while the other has passed through the same
<p>&quot;Although at times controversial, the Community Leader program arguably played a substantial role in the rapid growth and success of the America Online service in the mid-1990s. Because they were usually recruited from the more active users of a particular online forum, Community Leaders were often very passionate about the area for which they volunteered their time. This enthusiasm usually resulted in a greater sense of community and a higher level of professionalism in that forum. This in turn gave the AOL service more value over the less organized &quot;frontier&quot; of the Internet, at least in the eyes of users new to the online scene at the time. It also provided oversight with respect to forum content by knowledgeable individuals.&quot; (wiki)</p>
list to which has been added a carefully designed concrete slab. But
<p>In 1999 seven former community leaders &quot;asked the Department of Labor to investigate whether AOL owes them back wages. On May 25, two of the seven filed a complaint against AOL in federal court in New York, the first volley in a class-action lawsuit that is expected to drag on for over a year. Their attorney Leon Greenberg contends that the arrangement amounts to an illegal &quot;cyber-sweatshop.&quot; On July 22, AOL announced the elimination of its youth corps, 350 teenaged CLs. Scores of people have asked to join the lawsuit, say its filers. Meanwhile, the other 13,643-odd volunteers continue to report to &quot;work&quot; on AOL.</p>
it is small since they both have obeyed something: the first driver
<p>Who are these people who choose to personify the 800-pound gorilla of the online world, night after night, virtually for free? And what in the world did AOL do to anger this posse? As much as the lawsuit's outcome will set a precedent for compensating online labor in the future, it offers a window into the weird and wacky world of cyber-codependence - right at the intersection between corporate and personal identity.</p>
to a rarely manifested altruism—if she had not slowed down, her
<p>&quot;I'm torn by the lawsuit,&quot; says Nancy, who is typical of the dozen CLs interviewed for this story. On the one hand, she'd like to get paid for her work; on the other, she doesn't want to lose her volunteer position. Keep her talking, though, and Nancy starts to sound less like a disgruntled employee and more like a battered wife. &quot;I love AOL even though they're really shitty to me,&quot; she laughs. &quot;It's like a bad relationship I can't get out of.&quot;</p>
heart would have been broken by the moral law; the second driver to a
<p>(wired 1999: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/7.10/volunteers.html)</p>
largely distributed selfishness—if he had not slowed down his
<p>AOL and many other Internet companies have gone a step further, enlisting volunteers in a structured fashion to help control the traffic that can verge on chaos in the virtual world. The question raised now is whether such companies are riding to profitability on the backs of unpaid workers.</p>
suspension would have been broken by the concrete slab. Should we say
<p>AOL defends the system, saying it's part of the culture of the Web.</p>
that only the first connection is social, moral and symbolic, and
<p>''This whole volunteerism community and the participants are what makes the Internet,'' said AOL spokeswoman Ann Brackbill.</p>
that the second is objective and material? No. But, if we say that
<p>Ms. Brackbill said volunteer work is coordinated by the company, since the company manages ''tens of thousands of chat rooms'' and needs to organize the services of its many volunteers.</p>
both are social, how are we going to justify the difference between
<p>But she said the tasks performed by the volunteers ``are very different from AOL employees, and we would make sure of that.''</p>
moral conduct and suspension springs? They might not be social all
<p>Ivillage.com, an Internet company where 1,100 volunteers outnumber staffers by more than five to one, issued a brief statement Wednesday defending its use of volunteers.</p>
the way through, but they certainly are collected or associated
<p>''IVillage.com community leaders are true volunteers and not employees,'' the statement said. ''Our hope is that the Internet's participatory nature is not what's at issue here.''</p>
together by the very work of road designers. One cannot call oneself
<p>(AP 1999: http://www.apnewsarchive.com/1999/AOL-Volunteers-Claim-Exploitation/id-2a5f7b2fbaa68ee2e71d580f8a2b8b6c)</p>
a social scientist and pursue only some links—the moral, legal, and
<h2 id="ii-productive-users">II: PRODUCTIVE USERS</h2>
symbolic ones—and stop as soon as there is some physical relation
<h3 id="focus-how-to-harness-the-crowd-to-produce-a-desired-output">FOCUS: How to harness the crowd to produce a desired output?</h3>
interspersed in between the others. That would render any enquiry
<p>This chapter will extend the argument of exploitation of the &quot;Internet's participatory nature&quot; and look at more recent developments within this sphere. The idea of Crowdsourcing will be presented, as the key idea for shaping users who, essentially, will work for free. Here Jeff Hoeve's bible 'Crowd Sourcing - Why the Power of the Crowd Is Driving the Future of Business' will be used as central source.</p>
impossible.' p.77-78</P>
<p>With this approach I will rewind to the case of Google Sketchup, and dig further into the reasons for google to provide such software, and subsequently selling it. Flowingly an the official statement by the Google-team, on the acquisition of Sketchup:</p>
<PRE CLASS="western" STYLE="margin-bottom: 0.2in"><CODE CLASS="western"><SPAN LANG="en-US">- a biased game?</SPAN></CODE></PRE><P LANG="en-US">
<p>&quot;...Already we’ve had hundreds of users create 3D content in SketchUp and place their models in Google Earth. (A free plug-in enables you to do this.) What will that virtual world look like when tens of thousands of users are doing the same?&quot;</p>
I, for one, welcome our new Trimble Overlords - Something more than
<p>(http://googleblog.blogspot.nl/2006/03/new-home-for-last-software.html )</p>
just exploitation</P>
<p>I will address the Google Educational program, which provided teaching for children/youth in the use of sketchup. Is this a sign of creating even more users, who are actually users; they are addicted to the software and very dependent on it.</p>
<PRE CLASS="western"><CODE CLASS="western"><SPAN LANG="en-US">- the symbiosis (also forth coming in the source material</SPAN></CODE>
<p>I will address how world-wide competitions were set up by Google, such as 'Model your Town', as a mean to effeciently build up a troop of dedicated, spending hours competing but also guiding and aiding each other. All for the sake of enriching a Google product.</p>
<CODE CLASS="western"><SPAN LANG="en-US">- we are the gold farmers </SPAN></CODE>
<h2 id="iii-more-than-a-user">III: More than a user?</h2>
<CODE CLASS="western"><SPAN LANG="en-US">- the 'whatever'</SPAN></CODE></PRE><H1 LANG="en-US">
<h3 id="focus-mutual-dependence-broaden-the-perspective-of-the-second-chapter.-bring-back-aol-but-also-ge-examples-look-at-the-sweet-in-the-bittersweet">FOCUS: Mutual dependence? Broaden the perspective of the second chapter. Bring back AOL but also GE-examples, look at the sweet in the bittersweet?</h3>
<A NAME="links"></A>Links</H1>
<p>After having discussed the exploitation of the users in building up the virtual world for free, i will return to the community and address the fact that the users evolves strong emotional bonds towards the platform, each other as users, and the content they've produced. The provider plays a less 'dominant' role since the production is 'benefiting' the user it self. That is until this decides to shut down the platform.</p>
<P LANG="en-US">http://www.mastersketchup.com/why-google-doesnt-need-sketchup-anymore/
<ul>
http://www.macnn.com/articles/06/03/14/google.acquires.sketchup/
<li><p>Enthusiasm amongst the users towards the provider but also towards each other.</p></li>
http://www.jonathansblog.net/google_earth_sketchup_plugin
<li><p>Welcoming the new Overlords</p></li>
http://www.constructech.com/news/articles/article.aspx?article_id=9248&amp;SECTION=1
<li><p>Users benefit from genuine relationships with other users</p></li>
http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2059388/Google-Buys-SketchUp-Google-To-Map-The-World-in-3D
<li><p>The provider, until a certain point, is dependent on content to be produced by the community. It actually has to invest time/energy/money in building up the community and spreading the program.</p></li>
http://googlesystem.blogspot.nl/2006/03/google-acquires-sketchup-3d-sketching.html</P>
<li><p>While Google Earth is a product of Google, it's content has been created by real human-beings. It expresses a need for individuals to express themselves and build 'stuff' in participation with other individuals.</p></li>
<P LANG="en-US">http://news.cnet.com/Google-acquires-Last-Software/2100-1030_3-6049511.html</P>
<li><p>Google Earth as 'a huge piece of craftsmanship and art' full of inconsistencies reflecting on all the various people around the world involved.</p></li>
<P LANG="en-US">official blog:
</ul>
http://googleblog.blogspot.nl/2006/03/new-home-for-last-software.html</P>
<hr />
<P LANG="en-US">Upload to google earth:</P>
<h1 id="unordered-notesclippings">unordered notes/clippings</h1>
<P LANG="en-US">http://help.sketchup.com/en/article/57057
<p>[...] As long as &quot;WE&quot; still have control over editing and the model information we uploaded remains the same, I won't care about anything else (that I can think of right now anyway). Furthermore, as long as the models still identify the Modeler .... so that &quot;WE&quot; are still recognized for each of our works, I think I'll be satisfied.</p>
https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/earth/BQ3Icb6N5Po</P>
<p>People are starting to Jump, personally I've started to remove models on a graduated basis. Regards,</p>
<P LANG="en-US">GREAT GROUPS:</P>
<p>We're doing our best. Please be patient and again, try not to react harshly (like removing models) until all the information is published.</p>
<P LANG="en-US">examples of new mesh:
<p>All I can say is &quot;Beware of Greeks Baring Gifts&quot; Be very careful what you ask for as one day it just might come true and unfortunately, just when you least expect it and if you think a &quot;overlord&quot; is welcoming just look at history.</p>
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/3dwh/Cm_e8-f2EiM</P>
<p>Crowdsourcing theory...: Main critique</p>
<P LANG="en-US">&quot;appeal a model&quot;
<p>//game-theory: design systems which generate outcome for the provider but enables 'freedom' for the individual. --&gt; leads to next chapter</p>
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/3dwh/CKEFcdYVQeg</P>
<p>Provider/Workers-relationship</p>
<P LANG="en-US">applause for craig d
<pre class="western"><code>- game-theory
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/sketchup-pro/fS73Zo0kTHU</P>
- crowd-control
<P LANG="en-US">craig d thanks the community
- self-constrainment
http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=15&amp;t=5465</P>
<P LANG="en-US">alternative solutions open source (search
matthiasbasler):
https://groups.google.com/forum/embed/?place=forum%2F3dwh&amp;showsearch=true&amp;showpopout=true&amp;parenturl=http%3A%2F%2Fsketchup.google.com%2F3dwarehouse%2Fforum&amp;hl=da#!topic/3dwh/epXUQA2bJ2s%5B1-25-false%5D</P>
<P LANG="en-US">https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/3dwh/-GQj7OlZshA%5B151-175-false%5D
https://groups.google.com/forum/embed/?place=forum/3dwh&amp;showsearch=true&amp;showpopout=true&amp;parenturl=http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/forum&amp;hl=da#!searchin/3dwh/beryl$20reid/3dwh/12RpDeu4Z0M/5JF_3efZ8zYJ</P>
<P LANG="en-US">LINKS</P>
<P LANG="en-US">http://google-latlong.blogspot.no/2012/06/take-flight-through-new-3d-cities-on.html
http://googleblog.blogspot.no/2012/06/never-ending-quest-for-perfect-map.html
https://plus.google.com/+GoogleEarth/posts/RCTTNn6kcbA</P>


- design systems which generate outcome for the provider but enables &#39;freedom&#39; for the individual.


----
- holmes/cybernetics
 
- regulation/law/lessig
'''== BACKPORTS =='''
- Latour: </code></pre>
 
<p>'Between a car driver that slows down near a school because she has seen the ‘30 MPH’ yellow sign and a car driver that slows down because he wants to protect the suspension of his car threatened by the bump of a ‘speed trap’, is the difference big or small? Big, since the obedience of the first has gone through morality, symbols, sign posts, yellow paint, while the other has passed through the same list to which has been added a carefully designed concrete slab. But it is small since they both have obeyed something: the first driver to a rarely manifested altruism—if she had not slowed down, her heart would have been broken by the moral law; the second driver to a largely distributed selfishness—if he had not slowed down his suspension would have been broken by the concrete slab. Should we say that only the first connection is social, moral and symbolic, and that the second is objective and material? No. But, if we say that both are social, how are we going to justify the difference between moral conduct and suspension springs? They might not be social all the way through, but they certainly are collected or associated together by the very work of road designers. One cannot call oneself a social scientist and pursue only some links—the moral, legal, and symbolic ones—and stop as soon as there is some physical relation interspersed in between the others. That would render any enquiry impossible.' p.77-78</p>
<p>SKELETON</p>
<pre class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2in"><code>- a biased game?</code></pre>
 
<p>I, for one, welcome our new Trimble Overlords - Something more than just exploitation</p>
<H1 CLASS="western" STYLE="line-height: 150%">TITLE: I, for one,
<pre class="western"><code>- the symbiosis (also forth coming in the source material
welcome our new Overlords
- we are the gold farmers
</H1>
- the &#39;whatever&#39;</code></pre>
<P STYLE="line-height: 150%"><BR><BR>
<h1 id="links">Links</h1>
</P>
<p>http://www.mastersketchup.com/why-google-doesnt-need-sketchup-anymore/ http://www.macnn.com/articles/06/03/14/google.acquires.sketchup/ http://www.jonathansblog.net/google_earth_sketchup_plugin http://www.constructech.com/news/articles/article.aspx?article_id=9248&amp;SECTION=1 http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2059388/Google-Buys-SketchUp-Google-To-Map-The-World-in-3D http://googlesystem.blogspot.nl/2006/03/google-acquires-sketchup-3d-sketching.html</p>
<P STYLE="line-height: 150%"><B>Outline: </B>
<p>http://news.cnet.com/Google-acquires-Last-Software/2100-1030_3-6049511.html</p>
</P>
<p>official blog: http://googleblog.blogspot.nl/2006/03/new-home-for-last-software.html</p>
<P STYLE="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%">The thesis will
<p>Upload to google earth:</p>
examine the relationship between users of online platforms and the
<p>http://help.sketchup.com/en/article/57057 https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/earth/BQ3Icb6N5Po</p>
provider of such. It will specifically look at motives for using  a
<p>GREAT GROUPS:</p>
platform and on the other hand providing it, and how these two can
<p>examples of new mesh: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/3dwh/Cm_e8-f2EiM</p>
differ entirely but to some extent accommodate each other.</P>
<p>&quot;appeal a model&quot; https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/3dwh/CKEFcdYVQeg</p>
<P STYLE="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%">As a case the
<p>applause for craig d https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/sketchup-pro/fS73Zo0kTHU</p>
thesis will focus on the community around a 3D modeling software,
<p>craig d thanks the community http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=15&amp;t=5465</p>
recently known as Google SketchUp, and it's close connection to the
<p>alternative solutions open source (search matthiasbasler): https://groups.google.com/forum/embed/?place=forum%2F3dwh&amp;showsearch=true&amp;showpopout=true&amp;parenturl=http%3A%2F%2Fsketchup.google.com%2F3dwarehouse%2Fforum&amp;hl=da#!topic/3dwh/epXUQA2bJ2s%5B1-25-false%5D</p>
virtual earth simulation tool Google Earth, which also until recently, allowed  users to upload their models built in Google SketchUp.
<p>https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/3dwh/-GQj7OlZshA%5B151-175-false%5D https://groups.google.com/forum/embed/?place=forum/3dwh&amp;showsearch=true&amp;showpopout=true&amp;parenturl=http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/forum&amp;hl=da#!searchin/3dwh/beryl$20reid/3dwh/12RpDeu4Z0M/5JF_3efZ8zYJ</p>
</P>
<p>LINKS</p>
<P STYLE="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%">Google SketchUp was
<p>http://google-latlong.blogspot.no/2012/06/take-flight-through-new-3d-cities-on.html http://googleblog.blogspot.no/2012/06/never-ending-quest-for-perfect-map.html https://plus.google.com/+GoogleEarth/posts/RCTTNn6kcbA</p>
sold in the spring of 2012, and the functionality for users to upload
their models to Google Earth was announced retiring as of October
2013, supposedly because of advances made in automated, computed
model-making, replacing the need for users to populate Google Earth
with their content. These decisions naturally caused an uproar
amongst the users of the software and platform, leading to several
heated debates filled with anger and despair towards the sale and
future role of the modelers. At the same time a dominant awe towards
the provider and strong faith in it's decisions is present, shedding
light on the almost godlike position of such.
</P>
<P STYLE="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%">A user-based
discussion thread on the sale of Google SketchUp and how the modelers
handle the situation, will be held as a central source, and used as a
'backbone' for the thesis. The discussion thread is named: 'I, for
one, welcome our new Trimble Overlords', Trimble being the new owners
of Sketchup. This title already indicates the distinguished
relationship between users and provider.
</P>
<P STYLE="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%">From this departure
the thesis will dive in to the trending idea of 'crowdsourcing' and
address its 'gray areas' of outsourcing and exploitation. It will
further look upon ideas of game-theory; how to construct a 'game' or
a system generating an optimized outcome, trough 'rules' based on
technical restrictions built into the soft/hardware or based on
certain social/psychological triggers.
</P>
<P STYLE="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%">Broadening this
line of thought, the thesis will elaborate on the emergence of a
strong social and cultural scene which can emerge within such a
system, arguably crossing the boundaries of pure exploitation of the
users. In the case of Google SketchUp/Google Earth the emotional
attachments users gradually builds by populating the virtual earth,
clearly shines trough the aspect of exploitation, yet they are
extremely dependent on the provider since it serves the entire
habitat in which the users 'roam'. The users passionately generate
content for the platform, while the provider makes the existence of
the platform a reality and aggregate value from the content
generated. A certain, fragile, asynchronous relationship between
users and provider becomes more clear. 
</P>
<P STYLE="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%">Throughout the
thesis additional smaller case studies will be brought in, making
space for a deeper cultural, more general understanding of
relationships between communities and providers, also addressing the
issues of sudden 'rupture' within a platform and the mutual
dependence between users and providers.
</P>
<H2 CLASS="western" STYLE="line-height: 150%">I: INTRO: Community
Panic</H2>
<P STYLE="line-height: 150%"><B>FOCUS: depict the despair/panic in
the modelers-community at the time of sale (of SketchUp). Give
overview of implicated software and platforms. </B>
</P>
<P STYLE="line-height: 150%"><BR><BR>
</P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT STYLE="margin-left: 0.48in; margin-right: 0.48in; margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%">
  <FONT SIZE=2 STYLE="font-size: 11pt"><I>...I deleted all my [...]
models! </I></FONT>
</P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT STYLE="margin-left: 0.48in; margin-right: 0.48in; margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%">
      <FONT SIZE=2 STYLE="font-size: 11pt"><I>...I will also delete
all my models! </I></FONT>
</P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT STYLE="margin-left: 0.48in; margin-right: 0.48in; margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%">
            <FONT SIZE=2 STYLE="font-size: 11pt"><I>...It is Over. </I></FONT>
</P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT STYLE="margin-left: 0.48in; margin-right: 0.48in; margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%">
  <FONT SIZE=2 STYLE="font-size: 11pt"><I>...People are starting to
Jump! </I></FONT>
</P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT STYLE="margin-left: 0.48in; margin-right: 0.48in; margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%">
    <FONT SIZE=2 STYLE="font-size: 11pt"><I>...I, for one, welcome
our new [...] Overlords.  </I></FONT>
</P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT STYLE="margin-left: 0.48in; margin-right: 0.48in; margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%">
<BR>
</P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%">“I wonder that
people aren't adding to their models little prophets carrying 'The
End is Nigh!' placards..</P>
<P CLASS="first-line-indent" STYLE="text-indent: 0in"><BR>
</P>
<b>A broken trinity: Software, Platform &amp;
Repository</b>
<P CLASS="first-line-indent" STYLE="text-indent: 0in">For the sake of
overview a brief outline of the different implicated software and
platforms and their relations will be sketched out in the following.<BR><BR>
</P>
<P CLASS="first-line-indent" STYLE="text-indent: 0in; font-weight: normal">
<BR>
</P>
<H2 CLASS="western">II: The crowd</H2>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%"><B>FOCUS: How to
harness the crowd into producing a desired output?  How is the crowd
utilized for production? Main argument revolves around exploitation
of users. </B>
</P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%"><B>REWIND: google
acquires Sketchup: reasons </B>
</P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%">
<BR>
</P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%">
...Already we’ve had hundreds of users create 3D content in
SketchUp and place their models in Google Earth. (A free plug-in
enables you to do this.) What will that virtual world look like when
tens of thousands of users are doing the same?
</P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%">
<BR>
</P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0in">“<SPAN STYLE="font-weight: normal">Crowdsourcing
is outsourcing on steroids” - Jeff Howe (</SPAN>Crowdsourcing - Why
the Power of the Crowd Is Driving the Future of Business)
</P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%">
<BR>
</P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%">
game-theory: design systems which generate outcome for the provider
but enables 'freedom' for the individual. --&gt; leads to next
chapter
</P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%">
<BR>
</P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%">
Exploitation critique</P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%">
<BR>
</P>
<H2 CLASS="western">III: Users as Users
</H2>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%">
<BR>
</P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%"><B>FOCUS: Dependency
on software and platform. Google sells Sketchup. This chapter will
extend above critique and discuss more technical aspects of
rectrictions/regulations</B></P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%">
</P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%">
This chapter will discuss how the software and platform is designed
to make the crowd perform a desired task, by introducing certain
confinements and restrictions to the capabilities of the
software/platform and the users 'freedom'.  
</P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%">
<BR>
</P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%">
Bring in more source-material
</P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%">
<BR>
</P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%">
- regulation/law/lessig:
</P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%">
<BR>
</P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%">
- Latour: on speedbumps: motivations and limits for the user.
confinement of 'movement'.  
</P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%">
<BR>
</P>
<UL>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%">
- ganeesh (own note)</P>
</UL>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%">
<BR>
</P>
<H2 CLASS="western">IV: More than a user?
</H2>
<P><BR><BR>
</P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%"><B>FOCUS: Mutual
dependence? Broaden the perspective of the previous chapters. </B>
</P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%">
<BR>
</P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%">
- Enthusiasm amongst the users
</P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%">
- back to the title of the discussion thread
</P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%">
- Emergence of subscenes, and cultures some more conform than others
</P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%">
</P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%">
The platform allows not only for rigid 'upload' to Google earth but
spawns a vivid scene of cultures and subcultures. The users evolves
strong emotional bonds towards the platform, and the content they've
produced, the provider plays a less 'dominant' role since the
production is 'benefiting' the user it self.
</P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%">
<BR>
</P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%">
<BR>
</P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%"><BR>
</P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%"><BR>
</P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%"><BR>
</P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%"><BR>
</P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%"><BR>
</P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%"><BR>
</P>

Revision as of 11:16, 4 March 2014

Lasse van den Bosch Christensen

SKELETON

TITLE: I, for one, welcome our new Overlords

QUESTIONS

What are the characteristics of relationships between a provider of a controlled, closed platform and its community?

Is such a relationship only biased towards the provider? Meaning that the provider hosts the platform, nourish and build up the community on the purpose to generate a monetary value.

How are feelings of both awe and frustration expressed towards the provider during critical periods within platform such as a program-retirement.

How does a community resist the provider?

INTRO:COMMUNITY PANIC

In may 2012 Google announces to sell it's popular 3D-modeling-software Google Sketchup. Within the ownership of Google, the software gained a lot of attention as a tool to populate Google Earth with models made in Google Sketchup. A strong community of so-called 'geo-modelers' grew forth aided and supported by Google. On a voluntary basis these dedicated modelers would spend hours building models to be pushed to Google Earth, motivated by pride in having 'modeled your own town' and knowing that you would be part of a community that actually would build a virtual copy of the earth.

In this introductory chapter i will describe situation, setting and spirit within the community of voluntary geo-modellers in the immediate after wake of the selling. How users panicked, showing their frustration by cutting their contributions, but also how others had immense faith in the new, as well as the old provider. They welcomed the new Overlords.

FOCUS: A traumatized community; uncertain future prospects.

<code>    ...I deleted all my [...] models!

...I will also delete all my models!

                ...It is Over.

...People are starting to Jump! 



  ...I, for one, welcome our new [...] Overlords.</code>

Shortly after Google officially announces the selling of it's popular 3D-software 'Google Sketchup', panic is spreading amongst it's huge 3d-modellers community. The users are split in two camps; one camp skeptical towards the unknown implications of an owner change, while the second camp tries to pour oil on the troubled waters attempting a more pragmatic, optimistic approach.

FURTHER: explain the purpose of the thesis - what will happen.

With the notion of 'crowdsourcing', and the current case as a vantage point this text seeks to cover the dynamics of user-provider relationships, looking critically at pitfalls and 'positives' of such symbiosis.

I: Another Case

(book: Uncovering Labour in Information Revolutions, 1750–2000, http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/history/regional-and-world-history-general-interest/uncovering-labour-information-revolutions-17502000-volume-11)

This chapter will see the topic in perspective to the 'AOL Community Leader Program'. This case has quite strong parallels to the situation within the Sketchup community. Former community leaders describes their relationship with AOL "like a bad relationship", hard to get out of, while geo-modellers express similar 'bittersweet' frustrations. It will look at AOL's argument for using the community: 'This whole volunteerism community and the participants are what makes the Internet' and engage in the discussion of the Utopian visions of the internet and how it has been appropriated to accommodate a business model.

The 'AOL Community Leader Program' roots dates back to the use of online remote volunteer "guides" by AOL predecessor QuantumLink at its start in 1985. In the early 1990s 'The Community Leader Program' was officially established, running until its discontinuation in 2005. At the peak of the program, it is estimated that AOL had approximately 14,000 volunteers.(book:Aol by George) AOL customers could volunteer to become 'Community Leaders', carrying a wide range of responsibilities such as hosting chats, board-monitoring, providing customer service and managing forum content. "In exchange for their services, AOL provided free service to their volunteers. Community Leaders also received special accounts (Price Index 77 or Overhead Accounts) that allowed them to restrict disruptive chat, hide inappropriate message board postings, and access private areas on the AOL service, such as the Community Leader Headquarters (CLHQ)." (wiki)

"Although at times controversial, the Community Leader program arguably played a substantial role in the rapid growth and success of the America Online service in the mid-1990s. Because they were usually recruited from the more active users of a particular online forum, Community Leaders were often very passionate about the area for which they volunteered their time. This enthusiasm usually resulted in a greater sense of community and a higher level of professionalism in that forum. This in turn gave the AOL service more value over the less organized "frontier" of the Internet, at least in the eyes of users new to the online scene at the time. It also provided oversight with respect to forum content by knowledgeable individuals." (wiki)

In 1999 seven former community leaders "asked the Department of Labor to investigate whether AOL owes them back wages. On May 25, two of the seven filed a complaint against AOL in federal court in New York, the first volley in a class-action lawsuit that is expected to drag on for over a year. Their attorney Leon Greenberg contends that the arrangement amounts to an illegal "cyber-sweatshop." On July 22, AOL announced the elimination of its youth corps, 350 teenaged CLs. Scores of people have asked to join the lawsuit, say its filers. Meanwhile, the other 13,643-odd volunteers continue to report to "work" on AOL.

Who are these people who choose to personify the 800-pound gorilla of the online world, night after night, virtually for free? And what in the world did AOL do to anger this posse? As much as the lawsuit's outcome will set a precedent for compensating online labor in the future, it offers a window into the weird and wacky world of cyber-codependence - right at the intersection between corporate and personal identity.

"I'm torn by the lawsuit," says Nancy, who is typical of the dozen CLs interviewed for this story. On the one hand, she'd like to get paid for her work; on the other, she doesn't want to lose her volunteer position. Keep her talking, though, and Nancy starts to sound less like a disgruntled employee and more like a battered wife. "I love AOL even though they're really shitty to me," she laughs. "It's like a bad relationship I can't get out of."

(wired 1999: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/7.10/volunteers.html)

AOL and many other Internet companies have gone a step further, enlisting volunteers in a structured fashion to help control the traffic that can verge on chaos in the virtual world. The question raised now is whether such companies are riding to profitability on the backs of unpaid workers.

AOL defends the system, saying it's part of the culture of the Web.

This whole volunteerism community and the participants are what makes the Internet, said AOL spokeswoman Ann Brackbill.

Ms. Brackbill said volunteer work is coordinated by the company, since the company manages tens of thousands of chat rooms and needs to organize the services of its many volunteers.

But she said the tasks performed by the volunteers ``are very different from AOL employees, and we would make sure of that.

Ivillage.com, an Internet company where 1,100 volunteers outnumber staffers by more than five to one, issued a brief statement Wednesday defending its use of volunteers.

IVillage.com community leaders are true volunteers and not employees, the statement said. Our hope is that the Internet's participatory nature is not what's at issue here.

(AP 1999: http://www.apnewsarchive.com/1999/AOL-Volunteers-Claim-Exploitation/id-2a5f7b2fbaa68ee2e71d580f8a2b8b6c)

II: PRODUCTIVE USERS

FOCUS: How to harness the crowd to produce a desired output?

This chapter will extend the argument of exploitation of the "Internet's participatory nature" and look at more recent developments within this sphere. The idea of Crowdsourcing will be presented, as the key idea for shaping users who, essentially, will work for free. Here Jeff Hoeve's bible 'Crowd Sourcing - Why the Power of the Crowd Is Driving the Future of Business' will be used as central source.

With this approach I will rewind to the case of Google Sketchup, and dig further into the reasons for google to provide such software, and subsequently selling it. Flowingly an the official statement by the Google-team, on the acquisition of Sketchup:

"...Already we’ve had hundreds of users create 3D content in SketchUp and place their models in Google Earth. (A free plug-in enables you to do this.) What will that virtual world look like when tens of thousands of users are doing the same?"

(http://googleblog.blogspot.nl/2006/03/new-home-for-last-software.html )

I will address the Google Educational program, which provided teaching for children/youth in the use of sketchup. Is this a sign of creating even more users, who are actually users; they are addicted to the software and very dependent on it.

I will address how world-wide competitions were set up by Google, such as 'Model your Town', as a mean to effeciently build up a troop of dedicated, spending hours competing but also guiding and aiding each other. All for the sake of enriching a Google product.

III: More than a user?

FOCUS: Mutual dependence? Broaden the perspective of the second chapter. Bring back AOL but also GE-examples, look at the sweet in the bittersweet?

After having discussed the exploitation of the users in building up the virtual world for free, i will return to the community and address the fact that the users evolves strong emotional bonds towards the platform, each other as users, and the content they've produced. The provider plays a less 'dominant' role since the production is 'benefiting' the user it self. That is until this decides to shut down the platform.

  • Enthusiasm amongst the users towards the provider but also towards each other.

  • Welcoming the new Overlords

  • Users benefit from genuine relationships with other users

  • The provider, until a certain point, is dependent on content to be produced by the community. It actually has to invest time/energy/money in building up the community and spreading the program.

  • While Google Earth is a product of Google, it's content has been created by real human-beings. It expresses a need for individuals to express themselves and build 'stuff' in participation with other individuals.

  • Google Earth as 'a huge piece of craftsmanship and art' full of inconsistencies reflecting on all the various people around the world involved.


unordered notes/clippings

[...] As long as "WE" still have control over editing and the model information we uploaded remains the same, I won't care about anything else (that I can think of right now anyway). Furthermore, as long as the models still identify the Modeler .... so that "WE" are still recognized for each of our works, I think I'll be satisfied.

People are starting to Jump, personally I've started to remove models on a graduated basis. Regards,

We're doing our best. Please be patient and again, try not to react harshly (like removing models) until all the information is published.

All I can say is "Beware of Greeks Baring Gifts" Be very careful what you ask for as one day it just might come true and unfortunately, just when you least expect it and if you think a "overlord" is welcoming just look at history.

Crowdsourcing theory...: Main critique

//game-theory: design systems which generate outcome for the provider but enables 'freedom' for the individual. --> leads to next chapter

Provider/Workers-relationship

<code>- game-theory
- crowd-control
- self-constrainment

- design systems which generate outcome for the provider but enables 'freedom' for the individual.

- holmes/cybernetics
- regulation/law/lessig
- Latour: </code>

'Between a car driver that slows down near a school because she has seen the ‘30 MPH’ yellow sign and a car driver that slows down because he wants to protect the suspension of his car threatened by the bump of a ‘speed trap’, is the difference big or small? Big, since the obedience of the first has gone through morality, symbols, sign posts, yellow paint, while the other has passed through the same list to which has been added a carefully designed concrete slab. But it is small since they both have obeyed something: the first driver to a rarely manifested altruism—if she had not slowed down, her heart would have been broken by the moral law; the second driver to a largely distributed selfishness—if he had not slowed down his suspension would have been broken by the concrete slab. Should we say that only the first connection is social, moral and symbolic, and that the second is objective and material? No. But, if we say that both are social, how are we going to justify the difference between moral conduct and suspension springs? They might not be social all the way through, but they certainly are collected or associated together by the very work of road designers. One cannot call oneself a social scientist and pursue only some links—the moral, legal, and symbolic ones—and stop as soon as there is some physical relation interspersed in between the others. That would render any enquiry impossible.' p.77-78

<code>- a biased game?</code>

I, for one, welcome our new Trimble Overlords - Something more than just exploitation

<code>- the symbiosis (also forth coming in the source material
- we are the gold farmers 
- the 'whatever'</code>

Links

http://www.mastersketchup.com/why-google-doesnt-need-sketchup-anymore/ http://www.macnn.com/articles/06/03/14/google.acquires.sketchup/ http://www.jonathansblog.net/google_earth_sketchup_plugin http://www.constructech.com/news/articles/article.aspx?article_id=9248&SECTION=1 http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2059388/Google-Buys-SketchUp-Google-To-Map-The-World-in-3D http://googlesystem.blogspot.nl/2006/03/google-acquires-sketchup-3d-sketching.html

http://news.cnet.com/Google-acquires-Last-Software/2100-1030_3-6049511.html

official blog: http://googleblog.blogspot.nl/2006/03/new-home-for-last-software.html

Upload to google earth:

http://help.sketchup.com/en/article/57057 https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/earth/BQ3Icb6N5Po

GREAT GROUPS:

examples of new mesh: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/3dwh/Cm_e8-f2EiM

"appeal a model" https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/3dwh/CKEFcdYVQeg

applause for craig d https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/sketchup-pro/fS73Zo0kTHU

craig d thanks the community http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=5465

alternative solutions open source (search matthiasbasler): https://groups.google.com/forum/embed/?place=forum%2F3dwh&showsearch=true&showpopout=true&parenturl=http%3A%2F%2Fsketchup.google.com%2F3dwarehouse%2Fforum&hl=da#!topic/3dwh/epXUQA2bJ2s%5B1-25-false%5D

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/3dwh/-GQj7OlZshA%5B151-175-false%5D https://groups.google.com/forum/embed/?place=forum/3dwh&showsearch=true&showpopout=true&parenturl=http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/forum&hl=da#!searchin/3dwh/beryl$20reid/3dwh/12RpDeu4Z0M/5JF_3efZ8zYJ

LINKS

http://google-latlong.blogspot.no/2012/06/take-flight-through-new-3d-cities-on.html http://googleblog.blogspot.no/2012/06/never-ending-quest-for-perfect-map.html https://plus.google.com/+GoogleEarth/posts/RCTTNn6kcbA