I guess it more or less started with those bonfires on hilltops. Later, the telegraph ("The Victorian Internet" by Standage) and the telephone began the rapid exchange of information. Today's Facebook, Twitter and Google Latitude make possible more information transmitted faster to more people and modified or commented on or augmented by still others more and more completely and rapidly.
Government is trying to improve its websites so that help more people more quickly. "Information architecture" that considers all forms of an idea or message or campaign and its best layout on websites and paper and video and podcasts is a current hot topic. The subject produces 40 million hits in Google.
The book "Geography of Bliss" by Weiner takes Moldova to be one of the reportedly least happy places in the world. Recently, there were riots there and those riots were organized and assisted by users of Twitter and cell phones. Protesters at the G7 and G20 national summits are notorious for using all the technology they can to assist their efforts.
I recently installed the Linux operating system by Ubuntu for free. Download it and install it on a computer. It includes Open Office programs that are very similar to Microsoft Office but are free. How did these come into existence? Volunteers who know and contribute time. How did Wikipedia get more than 2 million articles while Encyclopedia Britannica has less that 200,000? Volunteers who know, argue, correct and contribute time and effort.
It is a little scary that large groups can organize very quickly but it is clearly a new sort of phenomenon and worth knowing about.
