I gamed CalculatedRisk.blogspot.com
I had two goals -
i) Demonstrate that it's possible and fairly easy.
ii) Influence outcomes of The Pivot Point
1) The Evidence. In the preceding weeks I built up some interest by posting alternating humor and factual tidbits. Then in mid-November, I injected "Schramm communication model" into conversation and bound its context to certain, on-going topics. As I am the #2 Google entry for "Schramm model", my feedback was immediate and I tweaked the meme injection a bit over a couple of days. Here's the proof that the injection was successful -
Mid-November was the largest relative spike for "schramm model" in the past five years.
The Aug, 2006 spike reaches the same amplitude but starts from a closer point.
2) The Goal. I wanted to demonstrate certain aspects of the Internet and judging from the international bleedoff from CalculatedRisk, I succeeded. Naomi Klein's book, "The Shock Doctrine" touches on strategic potential of The Crash but not the tactical feedback mechanism. This is the feedback mechanism, a property which I defined as "diffraction" in 2005 - the disruption and release of mental bandwidth so that it more easily accept new ideas.
I chose CalculatedRisk because it's the right venue - it's bipartisan, focused on economic issues, has a critical mass, it was relatively easy and... its readership fits the pattern of "diffraction". CR readers are more aware and more concerned than the average citizen. They're ahead of the pack.
A second aspect of The Crash is the dynamic between The Common and The Different. After many years, I concluded that a major problem in the U.S. is increasing emphasis on "The Different" for marginal economic gain. Previous depressions show that once the profit breakpoint is reached, momentum will still drive societies into untenable actions. Eventually, the snap-back towards conformity (and profitability) can be dramatic. Nazi Germany, for instance. Real change in the United States would revolve around a new center of common interest, a shift back towards conformity, but most people won't give up marginal/fringe beliefs without a great deal of economic pain.
Keep in mind that I gamed CalculatedRisk with one person (me), a few dollars of software and $1K laptop.
Imagine what a well-funded government or organization could do.
I wrote up this entry as part of my 2009 Defcon proposal.
It's almost as kooky as my meme stuff at Defcon 13, 14 and 15 so my odds of acceptance are good!
