A review of:

Howard Rheingold’s “Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution”

Matthew Salazar

bigmatt@stanford.edu

There’s an old saying, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” It’s interesting to see just how much that saying relates to the way we communicate. There really haven’t been any significant changes behind the reasons, motivations, and essence of our communication, while the methods and means of communication have changed drastically over the years. That change has affected the way our society functions and, for better or worse, altered the course of how society has developed, but the deeper meaning of communications has remained relatively untouched.

That pattern is about to be tested, however, as new communications technologies are developing at an astonishing rate. Howard Rheingold’s “Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution” is a broad, and rather generalized, look at some of these technologies and the affects they either already have had or are anticipated to have on society. As a central topic, Rheingold focused particularly on wireless communication media and the affects such communication has had on social organizations (political demonstrators for instance). Conceptually, he was trying to lay a framework for how we look at information exchange and the dynamics of how that exchange flows from person to person: the networks that develop. Clearly, the focus was on network effects and, interestingly, the structure humans have begun applying to the network. But there is no concrete conclusion to the work. No structured argument put forward, nor is one necessary. Smart Mobs is intended to be something of a survey of the different technologies and their implications. But a close reading will reveal that there are some deeper concepts being introduced as well. Underlying this work, Rheingold seemed to present three ideas for the reader to take in. The first is a simple excitement and optimism for these new changes. The second is a word of caution about potential problems. The third seems to be a question never explicitly asked: Will there really be a fundamental change in our communication? Our thought? Ourselves?

Howard Rheingold himself is an interesting creature, and perhaps the most instructive example of the concepts his book longs to convey. At his heart, Rheingold is an enthusiastic early adopter of technology. If anything is clear, it’s this: He loves this stuff. While he likes to portray himself as someone who ended up in his position rather accidentally (His web page proudly mottos, “I fell into the computer realm from the typewriter dimension, then plugged my computer into my telephone and got sucked into the net.”), its clear that Rheingold’s status as something of an authority on “community building technology” was the result of his own fascinations. One must remember that the very authority Rheingold has on such topics comes from his participation with their very origins. This exuberance for technology radiates throughout the book, even when discussing potential pitfalls.

Still, Rheingold’s enthusiasm is not without some warrant. Indeed, many of the products and technologies manifest themselves as novelties or toys. Certainly, from the standpoint of mass-market design and advertising, a key factor in encouraging adoption of these technologies is the promise of amusement and/or desire fulfillment. Even the simple promise of say, finding a better deal for a product, is enough to get anyone’s attention. The promise and potential of the technology to do great things and facilitate positive change is great. The purpose of the technologies and the structures created around them always seem to follow the same path: making somebody’s life better. If these fail to follow this path, they will be stopped. This helps explain the tone Rheingold uses. As such, one of the ideas of the book is that there is something fundamentally good at work with technology.

That’s not to say everything is rosy. All these technologies are valuable tools with exceptional ability to improve lives. The question begged however is, “whom does the technology benefit?” This caveat is explored numerous times in book in a variety of ways. Issues that have already begun to appear such as censorship, reputation mal-alignment, economic technological inequity, and the manipulation of the networks to nefarious ends are discussed. The potential for horrendous consequences are evident throughout the work. Indeed, much of the book looks at particular systems, existing or theoretical, and address ways they could be abused. This abuse is considered and possible solutions are proposed throughout.

Clearly, the new threats realized by technology are present. Examples of terrorism abusing technology are as prevalent as examples of activism trying to use it productively. Still, this isn’t all that Rheingold fears. Rheingold seems to be rather distrustful of authority in general, and as such is actively concerned that existing powers will attempt to restrict (or worse still, subversively manipulate) the networks that develop. While governments are an obvious concern, Rheingold worries about other forces also trying to exert some control over the structures that govern these emerging networks. It’s useful to note that the ongoing war between music recording industry and the Internet (particularly Napster and the “P2P revolution”) came into focus while Rheingold was preparing this book. This battle clearly weighed heavily on his conceptualization of the book beyond the few explicit passages that reference it. Yet Rheingold realizes (and attempts to convey to his readers) that these networks cannot develop purely democratically. Some structure has to exist to prevent abuse of the system. This is a paradox Rheingold doesn’t clearly address or answer. Merely, this, along with the other potential pitfalls, constitutes a warning for his readers to consider.

All told, Rheingold has endeavored to present a thorough, if not balanced, survey of the emerging communications technologies and their resultant networks. Why has he bothered? It would seem that Rheingold anticipates a monolithic change in the way we communicate. Or at least, we’re in the middle of a monolithic change that has been developing for the last several decades. Like Gutenberg’s printing press did five centuries previous, Rheingold prophesizes we are experiencing a true revolution of communication. He sees this technology as the evolution of a fundamental restructuring of how information is conveyed. From Gutenberg until now mass communication has been primarily one way from a few powerful sources to the many. Now communication will become many to many and power will shift to the people in a glorious populist crescendo… Of course, all of that is little more than the rhetoric much of the “old media” has been spreading to the masses for the last few years. Still, Rheingold believes there is truth to be had there, and in many ways, the goal of his book was to validate this. That rhetoric had never been backed up by anything remotely systematic: Rheingold wanted to fill that gap. All of which brings us to a final question.

While our means of communication will change, will the essence be affected as well? Rheingold never explicitly asks this, but in a way, answers it. While there is a sense of something “revolutionary” developing throughout the book, it is about the “nature” of our communication. One cannot help but notice that Rheingold keeps returning to existing points of structure within our current social networks to both boost the validity of his claims and to formulate his solutions to potential problems.

A popular website known as “slashdot” facilitates individual commentary on all variety of topics, a review of “Smart Mobs” included. One netizen on this forum by the handle of “ites” offered a most piercing comment about the review, “I think many sociologists make the mistake of thinking that technology can change us in some way. It changes the way we behave, but it just reinforces the way we are. People stick with family and friends above all, and do not just form mobs because it’s possible. If anything, totally flexible mobile communications will reinforce existing social structures (like family) that are constantly under attack from modern urban life, rather than creating new social forms.” Ites’ sentiments are quite relevant. Rheingold himself is a regular participant on slashdot and offered a few examples in response. But they never quite addressed the issue. Indeed, they were examples of people using technology to ends indicative of “old” structures.

Overall, “Smart Mobs” is an enjoyable read and any technophile will embrace Rheingold’s style and enthusiasim. It does present a thorough look at different forms of communication technology and the social networks already beginning to form through them. Rheingold’s explicit goal of first identifying this communication revolution and then increasing awareness and caution of it is admirably achieved. While Rheingold may not realize it, the greater issue of the nature of our communication changing has been asked. It would seem from the book that it has not, though Rheingold himself may feel otherwise.