SoP Discord handle: rafa (UTC+1)🐝

Twitter: @rafathebuilder /// Website: rafael.fyi /// Blog(ish): rafa.mirror.xyz

Reading Community: folklore.institute

Project Abstract

On the internet, we are part of ‘Swarms’; networks of people, bots, and content, coordinated through algorithmic feedback loops. Swarms are harbingers of misinformation, heralds of mutual aid, and representatives of the public will. But this is not our grandparents’ crowd. Swarms are networked tempests of humans and information. Most importantly, they can act collectively without central coordination (explicit protocols); they are minimally protocolized entities.

In this research, we document a variety of swarms, such as the mutual aid response to the devastating Hurricane María, to uncover their unique methods of cooperation. To understand swarms, we also need to understand their counterparts: online formations. Groups like memetic tribes and online communities have explicit protocols, which separates them from their swarm peers. This inevitably leads us to the question: How do we steer them?

Alongside the essay we will include three artifacts. First, a fictional onboarding document for Flow, a speculative software product with features to support swarm-like coordination. Second, a workshop facilitation kit to explore the interactions between swarms and conventional organizations. Third, a curated set of chess variants that can help understand swarm-like behaviors.

Note: The essay will be published sometime in the next 6 months. However, if you would like private access for a particular purpose, please feel free to email me at [email protected].

Summary of Project Assertions

  1. Historically, we have gathered in Social Formations
  2. On the internet, we are networked alongside bots and content in Online Formations
  3. Online Formations are characterized by their Social Protocols
    1. Social Protocols are codified rules that reinforce a Network Structure and Orientation
    2. Swarms are Online Formations with Minimal Explicit Social Protocols
  4. The survival of an Online Formation relies on the strength of its Orientation
    1. An Orientation is a set of associative connections that create collective momentum
    2. The strength of an Orientation relies on the Feedback Loop that nourishes it
    3. Swarms rely on Attunement Feedback Loops, built from continuous broadcasts
  5. Alignment Technology shapes Social Protocols adoption and Feedback Loops mechanisms
    1. Attunement Technology facilitates a new form of Online Formation Management

Project-Specific Terminology