If knowledge is power then how powerful would it be if the worlds knowledge was available and organized appropriately? If ethically sound, wouldn’t this be the most powerful society tool we could ever ask for?

Think of the infinite potentials if education, research, science, technology, healthcare, business and government all shared the ubiquitous ability to discover the most meaningful, useful, and relevant connections between people and information resources.

What if social organization was based on the ability to identify and match people’s values with others needs and problems with solutions?

At a time when civilization needs greater solutions to our personal, social and environmental challenges, the Web offers a new paradigm in social organization in which we can expect exponential growth in social impact and change. However, if the Web is going to solve the world’s problems through providing the right information to the right people at the right time, it needs an ethical solution to understanding who people truly and what they really seek, without compromising privacy.

The Web 2.0 Problem

The #1 challenge to socializing the Web lies in its decentralized, open-architecture. With so many people relying on the the Internet for just about everything, how can we trust the authenticity and credibility of people and information resources?

The current Web 2.0 is a patchwork of online communities and social technologies that appeal to different interest groups and various aspects of society. Blogs, social networks, search engines and community platforms all improve our ability to connect with people and information in ways that were never possible. Whether it is news, media, education, sports, entertainment, business, enterprises, governments, healthcare, social services, etc., there isn’t a single aspect of society that doesn’t rely on the usefulness of the social Web.

In the background of Web chatter billions of dollars are being spent, and made, on better methods for tracking user behavior, identifying trends, and deriving useful analytics. Every single thing we do online creates data, which for the most part, is openly available. So if you are worried about government institutions like the NSA, think about the hackers, advertisers, marketers, search engines, researchers, etc., that are mining personal and social data to benefit their own interests.

Data privacy isn’t the only Web 2.0 problem; with a growing mass of people and information resources, how can we trust an unregulated system to deliver us the most relevant and useful connections?

While the Web is providing increased social impact and overall good, we have only seen the tip of the Iceberg. The true socially empowering potentials of the Web will come when we have an open-social standard for recognizing the authenticity and credibility of people and information. This will allow the Web to form the most accurate and meaningful connections across any discipline or social media platform.

How to Socialize the Web

Mother Nature is the greatest example we have for socializing an open-architecture. Therefore, Nature is the perfect example for how we should socialize the Web.

Similar to how natural systems maximize efficiency, ensure sustainability, and overcome all adversity, the Internet’s open-architecture provides the perfect environment for optimizing personal, social, and business objectives on a global scale. As a decentralized environment, the open-architecture of the Internet demands a cross-platform solution for recognizing the authenticity and credibility of people and information resources. Through understanding who people truly are and what they really seek, the Internet will provide organic relationships between people and information in any subject of interest. This new paradigm in social integration and organization will naturally match peoples problems with the best solutions on a global scale?

Megathread: An Ethical Approach to Socializing the Web

Megathread is a simple plug-in that leverages online discussions to understand and connect people and information resources across any platform.

Why does Megathread focus on online discussions? Because dialogue is how we get to truly know and trust people in different areas of expertize. Dialogue is how we share, learn and grow our conceptual understanding of everything; it builds an innate sense of authenticity, credibility and meaning through our daily lives; it is the single common denominator to personal development and social-cultural evolution. In essence, online dialogue is the key to building accurate representations of knowledge across the Web.

Since Megathread focuses on online discussions, it offers an ethical and seamless approach to integrating people, online communities, social networks, and social technologies. It can be applied to any community platform where influential or educational dialogue occurs. It provides an authentic and accurate source for integrating the qualities of people and the value of information resources. Additionally, it is benign; it doesn’t compromise data privacy, nor does it change anything about the pre-exiting platform.

Megathread can improve upon what’s already out there while addresses the Web 2.0 problem. Megathread’s ultimate goal is to provide the safest and most meaningful connections between people and information resources in education, research, science, technology, sports and recreation, healthcare, business, government, social services, and so on. How effective Meathread becomes in matching people’s values with others needs and problems with solutions, depends upon the degree of support and collaboration from online communities and their members.

While Megathread is a for-profit company its purpose is collaborative–it will always be free to individuals, supporting communities in education, and non-profit organizations. With the right support form communities, institutions and individuals, Megathread can help organize the worlds knowledge, build the next generation of the Web, and maybe, provide the social condition for overcoming our World’s challenges.