TMI?

Reading another Summer book--probably the last I'll finish by Labor Day (have one more to go, so I came close). Cognitive Surplus by Clay Shirky is interesting--in a techie, social networking, wikinomics sorta way.

Premise is that because of the ability of the Internet to facilitate communication and participation there is a surplus of cognitive resources. People will make time to participate, given the right circumstances and often choose to produce and share, rather than just observe (as is the case with media like TV, books and other print media.

On the other hand--several million people following the tweets of a celebrity may not elevate the status of humankind in the greater scheme of things.

There are institutions and organizations that don't necessarily want participation by stakeholders--I suspect more than commonly thought. Complications arise and the status quo can be threatened--never palatable for individuals who've invested decades in climbing a ladder to leadership. Job number one is to get to the top and job number two is to stay there as long as possible--much easier if the ladder stays put.

Shirky goes into considerable detail in discussing the development of the printing press and how that changed the intellectual landscape of humans in remarkable ways. There are some parallels between that episode of rapid change and the Internet's ability to provide a forum for nearly everyone.

The average quality of the information available declined in both cases. There was MORE information, but quality declined. From some perspectives that may not seem a problem--there is better stuff out there, but there is also an abundance of information of minimal utility. The filter is ultimately the human mind, a device evolved pre printing and pre Internet for purposes considerably different than those facing it today.

This theme carries over into MLS systems. The present MLS systems have much more data that the systems of 25 years ago. The average quality of the data--not the accuracy (that's another topic) has declined considerably. Many of the data fields are very rarely used. It takes longer and longer to input a listing and because the MLS Vendor and the entity receiving the MLS experience no human costs for input, that's just fine with them. How much time is wasted each year by agent inputting data that will rarely if ever be accessed?

With the recent turf wars, the MLS arena will be shaped by mega entities plotting to acquire users, mostly through political means. Groundbreaking technological advances are unlikely until an eventual shakeout occurs. Leaping ahead into a new tech habitat only happens when the resources to support the business side are present. Politics trumps technology when leadership can remain detached from a rank and file focused on a success metric only remotely related to the technology. Houses will sell and agents will make commissions, regardless of technology. Agents will use whatever technology is provided--they'll always complain, but they'll seldom do more to improve their future. That's an ideal landscape upon which to exercise the politics of leadership. The technology vendors, have little motivation to innovate beyond keeping pace with their competitors, because without a politically arranged user base any truly groundbreaking MLS system would fail to launch and survive.

Where's the public in all of this? They're actually in a little better position, in that the public data display sites are supported by traffic and more traffic is determined by user experience, not politics. Unfortunately, most of the data come from the MLS systems one way or another--and the average quality of that data in assisting in the decision making process is declining with time.