Kevin: Okay, let us get this started. You hear about citizen journalism in the media and see examples like this site and others such as Alwayson. Tell us Bala, What does citizen journalism mean?

Bala: media created by citizens, e.g. discussion
forums, blogs etc. most media was created by citizens prior to the
printing press - we're going back to that.

Bala: I remember in my village where I grew up in
Malaysia. When there was no media there. When we needed to find out
what was happening in the neighboring village. We’d send one of us
over. He’d go over. And talk to the headman. Get the party platform
from him. And on his way back he'd go have a haircut at that village's
barber. And there he'd get the grapevine. And between the two versions
he narrates to us...See that was media for us that were news.

Kevin: why is the redesign towards this social software and citizen journalism on tamil.net so important?

Bala: See what matters most to the village = media
ok the reason is this... media used to be equal to community... because
what mattered most to community equaled to the community. And what
mattered most = media = community. As time went on, specialists creeped
in... And in time the agency phenomena took over. Agency phenomena =
agents become principals (another e.g. --> govt servants become
masters) and thus media diverged from community. Media no more
represented community. Nature abhors these divergences. It pushes
towards equilibrium. So there was pressure to have facilities to enable
this convergence and thus social software and citizen journalism

Kevin: So and I am being critical here, what does
social software mean? And how does that help the average person who
uses Tamil.net?

Bala: social software enables co-cognitive and
co-responsive folks to find and mesh with each other. I.e. find folks
who are same page with them. Enables similar league folks to congregate
and learn together. most learning now happens via proximate conversation

And social software enables that. It is even more important in an
Asian context (as compared to the US say)...because Asia does not have
the cognitive frameworks and narrative for inventiveness.

Kevin: What do you mean?

Bala: Asia minus Japan has not produced a single
quantum invention [1] since 1400 AD. Most innovative folks cannot find same
page folks in their locale. So social software will enable them to find
kindred’s in other locations. The power of social software to group
together dispersed minds

Kevin: so you believe that by bringing social software and this citizen journalism can do all of that?

Bala: the average guy benefits because they get to more experientially learn by being around when the innovators converse

Kevin: I'm going to try to be devils advocate...here…

Bala: Yes. In time the same page folks go on to complement...

Kevin: So what about all the gossip? How does that bring like minds, and
innovation? Are not blogs just gossip?

Bala: complementing in the form of new creations
e.g. better structures and processes... most Asian blogs (more so than
the world's) is gossip -- that's correct

And there's some benefit in that too -- folks become lots more
self-confident because they do that. But my view -- they are
insignificant. Compared to the conversations that lead to innovation.

Throughout history, innovation has come from mingling together of
what would have otherwise been "stagnant ponds" of minds. For e.g.
Venice was very innovative in Europe...

Bala: because it was the meeting place of Arab and
European minds and Malacca was very innovative because it was the
meeting place of Arab, Indian, Chinese and Malaysian minds

Malacca -- a port city in Malaysia was the precursor to Christopher Columbus wanting to come to India

So social software is doing now for lots more people what ships did
for a few in history and it is very early days -- so there's huge huge
upside as automated co-profiling happens (e.g. occupational equivalents
of dating engines)

Social software for example, will enable start up teams to form
faster will enable "co-sow to co-reap" shares in exchange for sweat
arrangements to evolve faster

Kevin: So your aim is to bring the ability for this
to occur within Tamil.net versus just having like say an online
dating service or just another blog site for this co- share and co- reap

Bala: it can't happen in an online dating site
because dating sites are not for work or socialising.It can't happen on
a
standard blog site because it doesn't have threaded discussion/search
and online project management.It'll happen in social software sites
that enable people to WORK together. Together, WORK = build structures,
create processes.

Social software that enables folks to FIND their same page...

And complement with them

Complement = work

Same page = eg people who are similarly motivated/share much of the same vocabulary/are nearly the same on EQ/IQ

Kevin: so to put all of this in one sentence the
reason why you invented Tamil.Net, Singapore.net and Malaysia.net and Indonesia.Net is to create a destination
for Tamils and parallels to communicate and collaborate thus creating a forum for
new ideas and innovation?

Kevin: with the aim of?

Bala: with the aim of creating *the* Knowledge Economy organisation for Tamils

We are road mapping towards listing each of them as *the* Knowledge Economy brand in their respective country

Bala: so we are Knowledge Economy leaders

Bala: and the Knowledge Economy is best orchestrated online

Bala: it is best orchestrated online cos it requires folks from all over (many from overseas)

Bala: I myself am an example...Tamil.Net would
not have happened if not for me from Australia not being afraid of
being hammered by the govt (innovation and bold -- often anti
establishment thinking -- comes together)

Bala: not that the govt is going to hammer me. But folks in most countries have this fear of shadows

Bala: self-censorship

Kevin: right. So what you’re saying is that the
participants of this site are really trying to think out of the box the
whole purpose being to see new ways of doing things without fear

Bala: Yes!!

Kevin: and that the users themselves rate the value of the blogs, articles, and news and forum discussions?

Bala: catalysed by minds overseas including overseas

Kevin: well said!

Bala: even now Tamils overseas are disproportionately present in Tamil sites, ditto with other Indian sites etc

Kevin: why is that?

Bala: because in the first place they left Tamil lands
etc...For the best jobs... which were overseas... and a subset of them
have a penchant to make a difference with their kindred in their
countries, have passion. Basically Kevin. In Asia you will find that
most jobs come out of a core of Asians manufacturing Western inventions
and services supporting them and nothing natively new happens.But now
the young are very restless!

Kevin: so that is what you’re trying to change?

Bala: I want to provide an avenue for the gifted
young facilitating Renaissances, and these countries are all in the
early stages of a Renaissance.I want to speed it up. These countries
have not gone through anything parallel to the Renaissance in the
1500s in Europe or the 60s in the US... We are it right now.

[1] Quantum invention = a significant leap in order of problem solving from cave man days up to now. Eg taming of fire, invention of language, wheel, domestication of rice, paper, gunpowder, printing press, electricity, cars, computers, Internet etc. Question to ask: What is the mental soil that allows quantum inventions or their not-so-quantum-invention-cousin ideas to germinate? How ethical is it to suppress the gifted? Is not killing inventiveness parallel to killing seedlings before they germinate, flowers before they bud and default aborting babies before they develop in a mother's womb? Because they are not perfect? Even though the alternative is less perfect? What are the karma costs?

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For sister sites click on:-

http://www.malaysia.net

http://www.singapore.net

http://www.indonesia.net

For more discussion on this, please click on http://www.malaysia.net/blog/6 , http://www.malaysia.net/bala-interview , http://www.ryze.com/go/bala and http://www.malaysia.net/node/150