Collaborative Governance - Full Overview

Civilsocialmedia.com is the only social media platform that is open to user administration.

1. Collaboration 

Better choices are made when we collaborate, we provide an open platform where users can supervise the operation of the site they use.

2. Security 

The best security we can provide for our data is to know for certain what is done with it. Only an open user administered platform, where any user can see internal activity, can provide proper security.

3. Local   

We are an open social media framework with maps, directories and marketing apps. Local communities can configure content specific to their geographic area.

4. Education     

Learn this technology as it evolves. We provide free personal one on one education. How to use HTML editors, what is a domain, what is a URL, from simple to complex, we work to keep you and your community aware of changes and improvements which you can then use to innovate your business activities.

5. Administration 

Administer the technology you use. We are an open platform designed to be managed in a collaborative fashion by our users. 

6. Benefits 

A central hub for commercial data services that is user administered will provide economic benefits to investors, users, and local communities.

Technology moves faster than society can think. 

Technology has changed society, and its past effects will appear minuscule to what lies ahead. Innovation is moving at a faster rate to our ability to comprehend the implications it will have on us. Unless we can understand the social changes technology will produce we are condemned to dealing with the effects only after they have affected us.   

We provide instruction for free and encourage you to learn more, participate in the development, and administration of our social media platform.

What is the internet?

For the purpose of this paper, I would like to define the internet as all technology that is free and open, that runs on servers, and can be accessed with personal devices over cable or WiFi. Commercial applications like Uber, Amazon, Facebook, QuickBooks, Turbo Tax are all considered part of the internet. Although these commercial examples are corporations with proprietary trademarks, the underlying technology they use is open and free. Anyone can recreate these companies without any special license or cost, all you need is, "know how", users, and customers. 

The primary component of this technology is the server, which is basically a computer you can access with any  personal device. Providing data services is the commercial work of the internet, with the server being the most secure place to keep your data, even better if local, under your control, and supervision.            

Internet, what danger?

The internet is where we get information... information changes minds, and molds political choices. Whether we like, or believe it, the media brainwashes us. Propaganda has been around for a long time, but the internet permits targeted messaging, specific to your personality, which is far more effective. Algorithms can be designed that will automatically message your community, and influence opinion in any direction desired.

We suggest your community become more aware, this is why we teach for free. Civilsocialmedia is an alternative media source oriented to your community, that is managed by the community that uses it..

Privacy is also an important factor, and only an open collaborative form of this technology can provide individual assurances for privacy. Civilsocialmedia is an open platform, and with many eyes looking on we can best assure that any wrongdoing is spotted quickly and corrected.   

The internet along with new developing AI technologies will change our society, our best safeguard is knowledge, and participation. 

Don't stand by clueless, participate.

Economic centralization and open source collaborative administration 

Since the industrial revolution we have seen a centralization of economics. From communities that once had a tailor shop in every town that would make your clothes, to a few clothing factories in the country, to offshore production. Technology, and mass production techniques have been centralizing production since the late 1700's.

We have a free market economy is based on big fish eats small fish competition. We don't actually eat the competition, they are left as low wage providers for the big fish. All to the eventual point where there are only a few big fish and everyone else is a small fish. Big fish then become the size of governments, and you have what is known as an oligarchy. The final result is centralization of services and production, which has the same unpleasant effects of communism. 

I live in Amish country, I can see a community that avoids technology, and it does quite well. The rest of us are immersed in technology, and required to stay abreast of change, or fail professionally. 

Technology is a good thing. It, saves lives, lowers the cost of production, improves communication, and provides entertainment. It also permits those that understand it best to out compete others, creating even more extreme centralization.  

We don't notice the disappearance of the marketplace. Central banks can print and distribute money, deficits expand, government jobs are created, and we provide social outreach. Nothing ever completely falls apart because technology provides many social benefits. Profits become bigger and bigger, but mostly for corporations that can participate, not for labor and the many small business components of your community. All this is what is giving us an increasing wealth separation between the 1% and the 99%.  

The most valued aspect of any economic equation is not production, sales, or distribution...

it is you, the consumer.

There is no way to put the brakes on the world economy, nor can we put technology back in the box, but there is a way to take back some control. Collaborating consumers can take control of the most important economic variable, consumption.

The one aspect of the internet that has gone unnoticed is its fundamental ability for collaboration. Instead of centralization, it can be an excellent platform for decentralization. Collaboration is the opposite of centralization.

A social media, plus e -commerce, equals a collaborative marketplace. The simple solution is to create an online village, and give the village to the villagers.  

Since you are the consumer, you are the most important component in economics. Your purchases make all initial choices, and therefore can choose what type of economy or community you like.

How open collaborative governance works.  

 The internet was first and foremost a platform that permitted online collaboration. It set into action an open source software community which created the software that gave birth to giants like Google, Amazon and Facebook. 

The most important aspect of the internet is the open source community that builds the internet we know today. The best known example of collaboration and open source is Wikipedia, where anyone can participate, and choices are made by open debate. Prior to the internet, in order for a community to debate any topic, a meeting hall with delegates was required, and delegates can be corrupted. Today, debate can be a series of online comments, open to anyone, with a thumbs up or down for consensus.       

Most all management systems are "top down", based on a "head of organization". Individuals called chief, president, king, etc... who are chosen, elected, or force themselves into authority. The chief then makes all operational choices. This system has always permitted the head to be self serving, or for outsiders to corrupt these choices with payoffs, or threats.

In an open system of governance there is no boss, no CEO to pay huge sums to. It is the collaborative that makes choices, and results come from a paid staff that executes the choices made. Contributors, and investors make all choices of governance on an open online platform, and verify results on the same.  

It is difficult, if not impossible to corrupt these choices as they are made on an open platform, documented, and with many eyes for verification. 

Of course, collaboration requires participation.     

The new literacy, a new public library       

The quality and openness of our methods of communication reflect the quality of our society. Although it was once true, today no one would consider banning literacy, or privatizing the English language.

Books and newspapers are working their way into history, the rapid changes in technology have given us a new and far superior medium of communication, the internet.  

The commercial applications of this technology are not open, and are extremely centralized. One person, one company, and a consolidation of the marketplace, Amazon is of course the prime example.

The nature of a healthy local community is a robust small business community. The advantages technology provides in marketing, sales, and distribution has eliminated many small businesses.  Better access to capital and technology will provide a competitive advantage. It is therefore natural under the current economic environment, that technology will continue to centralize economies, erode local communities, and the small businesses that made them. 

The printing press was a technology that changed society. Books made common people aware, and the result was democracy.

Technology can be expensive, and difficult to understand...  so too were books. In a democracy where anyone can vote, the ability to read newspapers, and books was rather important to the process. Unfortunately for the fledgling American democracy, the majority could not read, and if they could read they could not afford to buy books.

Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1816, “Where the press is free, and every man able to read, all is safe.”  

The United States recognized that a literate population was essential to a democracy, and opened its first public school in 1821, and public library in 1854. 

What is needed today, is technological literacy, and an internet library of software for public use, in public hands. How may know what a URL is, or what MySQL or Drupal is for.

This is why we hope to provide free education.  

Networks, consumers and participation     

Not everyone has tech abilities, in fact most people hate technology, but everyone is an avid consumer, and most of us have friends and family. We are all consumers and we all have a networks!  

Here is where those who hate technology, become vital. Bottom up governance requires broad participation, and for that we must find ways to be inclusive. For this to work we need others to understand our goals. We ask you to build your network, encourage others, shop local, and participate.     

The equation the founders of America discovered was, democracy will not work if the voters can't read. The same is true with technology it will harm those that don't understand it. Therefore, participate, learn a little, and teach a little.   

As opposed to other social media platforms we are by invitation, you can request an invitation but a current user must approve your invitation. There are two reasons for this, the first we are community based social media, and would like to assure that locals are locals, second, we return value for participation, and the network you build represents your stake in what we do. After all, we are a commercial enterprise, we sell products and services, we must have a way to give back to our investors and the people that build our network.      

We teach for free, and would like you to know as much as possible about this technology. People that write code are easy to hire, and there is no shortage of technology. Our success is based on your participation, and the more informed you are the better off we all are. 

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