V. Conclusion

We live in a highly connected environment, and create content constantly. Artists and designers who wish to take advantage of this phenomenon must offer something in return for the crowd’s participation. I have explained that social capital is a good indicator of probable cooperation. The ultimate part played by the initiator of the work is publishing the result. This final act gives meaning to the effort made by everyone else. By publishing the results as a final collaborative work they justify asking others to work for them. I have shown that when that work encompasses elements, which we recognise as intellectual property, they must be credited. I also suggested that the best way to validly produce the credit is by adhering to the contributors' wishes. I have shown that the Internet provides us with a record of past achievements, which allows us to analyse the results of our past efforts. Finally, I have linked the different attributes of my case studies to the characteristics of a wise crowd as described by James Surowiecki (p.10). Following from this, I have proposed that the intelligent way in which the eventual results are presented in these works is the best indication that we are learning to become a wiser collective.
As I have indicated earlier, it is just over a decade since our society entered a stage of increased connectivity. In this short time we have changed dramatically in how we interact, but we are like a growing adolescent that is only beginning to appreciate the full range of movement in his developing body. We test and try our social muscles and often make clumsy mistakes from which we learn to improve. A proof of this is the plethora of literature on the subject of marketing through social media. Writers have very mixed opinions of the users of such sites, from ‘Facebook users are very sophisticated’ (ReadWrite, 2011) to ‘Facebook users are on dope… They aren't attracted to advertisements’ (Lannigan, n.d.).

These kinds of bewildered observations show our anxiety over the fact that we belong to a crowd of millions, if not billions. This phenomenon is unprecedented and we do not know how to deal with ourselves in this state. This is inspiring uncertainty and distrust in the new forms of communication which sustain the crowd’s existence. However, I have shown that through the purposeful engagement with our new capabilities we allow ourselves to grow aware and hopefully comfortable with our new abilities. To find comfort while dealing with the crowd, and to learn how to get what we want out of it is wonderful for us as individuals. What we must ask ourselves now is whether we can afford not to make use of these capabilities in order to deal with the challenges our society is facing today, and will face in the future.