The document discusses online collaboration and networked commons. It defines collaboration and cooperation and explores features of online collaboration like networking and asynchronous interaction. A case study examines bugs in the Battlefield 3 beta test forum. The concepts of commons and gift economy are introduced in the context of unregulated online resources. User participation in collaboration and commons is shaping internet culture and social media revolutions.

1. Online Collaboration & the networked commons by Selina Fung & Nikita Tan Monday 12-2pm

2. Content Part 1: Online Collaboration Collaboration vs Cooperation Features of Online Collaboration Case Study 1: Battlefield 3 Open Beta Part 2: Networked Commons The Commons The Gift Economy Unregulated Networked Commons Case Study

3. Collaboration vs Cooperation Collaboration any process that allows two or more people in different locations to work on a task allow for the sharing of resources and responsibilities involves negotiations, discussions, and accommodating others’ perspectives Cooperation a task that is accomplished by dividing it among participants, where each person is responsible for a portion of the problem solving all participants do their assigned parts separately and bring their results to the table

4. Online Collaboration Networking as a common ground Different stakeholders Asynchronous interaction  enable flexibility Ubiquitous Examples include email, document sharing, newsgroups, discussion boards, and Webcasts that can be stored for later viewing

5. Case study 1: Battlefield 3 Open Beta Battlefield 3 Forum: http://battlefield3forums.com/forum.php

6. Case study 1: Battlefield 3 Open Beta Jonathan Leack, a senior Editor for PSLS.net, said, After playing the beta for over five hours, I have personally encountered bugs and glitches of all types, ranging from clipping issues, to visual phenomena.

7. Case study 1: Battlefield 3 Open Beta ‘Parts of the graphics were nothing compared to the “actual gameplay footage” in the trailers and gameplay seemed buggy at times’.

8. Case study 1: Battlefield 3 Open Beta ‘Glitches seen in the beta including falling below the map’.

9. Case study 1: Battlefield 3 Open Beta Global Community Manager for the Game, Daniel Matros, tweeted the following: Alotof what you are seeing in the BETA doesn't exist in the main game already," he said. "1st party submission mean we couldn't give a version of the latest code in the BETA but the retail game is well ahead of what you are seeing now with a lot more bug fixes already in place. “ ”

10. Case study 1: Battlefield 3 Open Beta Top 10 Battlefield 3 Open Beta issues and how we are addressing them http://blogs.battlefield.ea.com/battlefield_bad_company/archive/2011/09/30/battlefield-3-open-beta-update-1.aspx##

11. The Commons Resources that are owned in common or shared between or among communities populations. These resources are said to be "held in common" . Can include everything from natural sources and common land to software.

12. Gift Economy A society where valuable goods and services are regularly given without any explicit agreement for immediate or future rewards. Scholz: In the gift economy of the Internet, gift-giving does not relate to loss or the reduction of excess. Sharing a digital file only creates a copy while the giver retains the ‘original’.

13. (Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia)

14. Unregulated Networked Commons The remaining public areas online in which people can store resources. E.g. code, music mp3, movies, artworks, texts etc. Everyone can draw on the resources of all others. Example: BBS (Bulletin Board System)

19. Conclusion The participation in online collaboration and the emerging of users by “the commons” as well as the unregulated networked commons have evolved the Internet users into not just revolutions in online social media, hence the vanguard of a cultural movement too.

20. Discussion Questions How is the society changing with the growing adoption of the new collaboration tools and what do you think is the greatest obstacle to standardization and interoperability of these collaboration tools? How do you think the regulators can control the notion of free gift economy over the Internet? Does the sharing of information deserve to be free? What do you see as the future of online collaboration for the months to come? What are the things we should expect and what are the things we should push for that we do not have yet to increase our ability to learn, collaborate, work and communicate effectively with these tools?

21. References Conditt, J., 2011, EA is fixing these issues found in the Battlefield 3 open beta, accessed 1 October 2011, <http://www.joystiq.com/2011/10/01/ea-is-fixing-these-issues-found-in-the-battlefield-3-open-beta/>. Electronic Arts, 2011, Battlefield 3 Open Beta Update #1, accessed 1 October 2011, <http://blogs.battlefield.ea.com/battlefield_bad_company/archive/2011/09/30/battlefield-3-open-beta-update-1.aspx##>. NTHU, 2011, 楓橋驛站, accessed 1 October 2011, <http://web.cs.nthu.edu.tw/files/15-1015-1507,c1917-1.php>. Schiff, S., 2006, Annals of Information: Know It All, accessed 1 October 2011, <http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/07/31/060731fa_fact>. Scholz, T., 2006, THE PARTICIPATORY CHALLENGE, accessed 1 October 2011, <http://www.collectivate.net/the-participatory-challenge/>. Wales, J., 2008, Free Culture and a Creative Commons World, accessed 1 October 2011, <http://newmedia.ufm.edu/gsm/index.php/Free_Culture_and_a_Creative_Commons_World>. Violino, B., 2007, Synchronous vs. Asynchronous Collaboration, accessed 1 October 2011, <http://www.aiim.org/Resources/Archive/Magazine/2007-Jan-Feb/32715>. Wikipedia, 2011, Wikipedia:About, accessed 1 October 2011, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:About>.