Social Media: Of Neural Networks and Kabbalah

We have certainly seen a great deal of drama over the weekend�concerning the community aspect of Red State, and the tendency of like-minded people to consistently recommend diaries by other like-minded people.� The drama has generated more heat than light, and the shouting matches over terms like “cabal” and “clique”�no doubt delight the opponents of that overarching belief system shared by all members of the site.

We need to step back a bit and look at the very nature of social media.� Networking lies at the heart of it.� And social networks are like those Venn Diagrams you learn about in high school math - interlocking sets of data points (in this case members), except more complicated.��

They are everywhere, too.� Wall Street, ever addicted to coining buzzwords,�has been pushing the concept of�neural networks: how traders with a similar view of the market develop their own networks, promote that view, trade on it, and mutually reinforce market trends.� But then they move on, switching networks as they switch views.� It’s a very complicated phenomenon.�(If you think RS discussions are tough, spend a day at Yahoo Finance on the discussion lists that exist for every popular stock!)

This�phenomenon�rules opinion sites.� People will flock together to promote commonly shared ideas.� All it takes for a neural network to form is a few people who email each other.� And then they email their contacts, and the contacts email theirs, and we’re off to the races.� Throw in technologies like Google or Yahoo�Groups, Twitter, Facebook, etc. and you get a multiplier.� The RS front page does the same thing when it advises the members to do phone calls, emails, etc.� It is the most natural thing in the world.��
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However�bothersome this fact of life may be, network behavior CAN NOT BE STOPPED. That is why social media entrepreneurs become billionaires, and AOL (over)pays the likes of Arianna.
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This is also�why the�arguments over recco’s, like the one that broke out on the�infamous LIO energy diary, will always be a waste of time at best,�and at worst can�disfigure�a site more�than�any offending�diary that a lot of people like for whatever mysterious reason.�(I did NOT like the LIO diary BTW.)�

In Pride and Prejudice, Mr. Bennet observes that we exist to make sport of our neighbors, and to be laughed at in our turn.� Quite a good observation, I think.� As long as people are restrained enough to STAY neighbors.� So I will close with that.

But what of the mysteries of the Kabbalah, you say?� Sorry, I’m not going to tell you.� You have to join my Kabbalah group for that.

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