Building common ground in a wildly webbed world: a pattern language approach
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JICES-04-2018-0044 |
| Published date | 13 August 2018 |
| Date | 13 August 2018 |
| Pages | 338-350 |
| Author | John Charles Thomas |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance,Information & communications technology |
Building common ground in a
wildly webbed world: a pattern
language approach
John Charles Thomas
Problem Solving International, Solana Beach, California, USA
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paperis to help bridge the digital divide that arises from people havingsuch
different viewpoints that little communication is possible, even though all have access to the internet and
speak the same language.
Design/methodology/approach –The method is to catalog the best practices in collaboration and
cooperationin the form of a pattern language. After describingpattern languages, some examplesare given.
Findings –People have beentrying to cooperate in many cultures over many centuries,and there are many
the best practicesthat can be useful to find a common ground.
Research limitations/implications –The patterns suggested do not easily allow empirical and
objectiveA/B testing.
Practical implications –Any pattern or guidelinewill be applied by most people in most contexts.There
will alwaysbe practical limitations in the appropriatescope of application.
Social implications –A more widespreaduse of the patterns should help heal the divisivenessin society.
Originality/value –While pattern languageshave been used in many fields, this is the first attempt to do
so in fosteringcivil engagement.
Keywords Ethics, Collaboration, Digital divide, Civil society, Multi-stakeholder regulation
Paper type Viewpoint
Introduction
Today, in many democracies, in addition to digital divides because of the economics or
accessibility, a new divide has arisen. This divides people who may all have access to the
internet but who live in different virtual spaces. This paper offers a possible solution. It
addresses the need for civility in civil discourse and suggests some ways to help achieve
that.
For people to work together for a common good requires trust. The most practical
way to generate that trust is to build from a common ground. Our society is diverse in
terms of background, experience, skills, values and information sources. Partly, this
diversity stems from having a very complex society spread out over a large physical
space. Finding a common ground under such circumstances logically implies a process
that would take longer than when people were all hunter-gatherers or had only a few
professions. Yet, our society is more impatient than ever. When people with very
different backgrounds get together, they seem to want to “dive right in”to understand
and resolve differences. There is consequently a mismatch between expectations and
reality. When the reality (very slow progress on addressing differences) falls so short of
expectations (a very fast and efficient process to identify and resolve differences), the
tendency is to blame others, which makes progress toward effectively addressing
important issues even more difficult.
JICES
16,3
338
Received27 April 2018
Revised17 July 2018
Accepted18 July 2018
Journalof Information,
Communicationand Ethics in
Society
Vol.16 No. 3, 2018
pp. 338-350
© Emerald Publishing Limited
1477-996X
DOI 10.1108/JICES-04-2018-0044
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