Ryan MacMillan

The internet was founded by geeks who wanted to share ideas and data with each other. Though nobody foresaw the size of the internet’s success, the conception of what is now the largest resource in history was an act of social behaviour. The internet was never branded, there was no business plan, and I don’t [...]

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We recently carried out a survey of conversation monitoring agencies as part of our work on a report for Contagious, some free extracts of which can be viewed here.
In recent years several companies have emerged to provide insights into the levels of online conversational activity around their clients. These companies use a widely varying mix [...]

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I’ve been chasing a conversation around the internet which has careered off from an article by Anthony Barnett on Comment is Free. Following Gordon Brown’s plans for reforming the Governance of Britain, and the Justice Minister Michael Wills’s further suggestion of taking this debate online, Barnett and his chums at openDemocracy want to have a [...]

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e-Commerce has greatly affected our behaviour as consumers. Last Christmas, Amazon saved me from the horrors of the last-minute Oxford Street reenactment of the Black Hole of Calcutta in which I traditionally play a role (third Sweating Man in Hennes Queue from stage-left). I ordered all my presents on the site and they appeared, gift-wrapped [...]

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I had the pleasure of hearing Charles Leadbeater speak about the basis of his new book, We Think: The Power of Mass Creativity, at the British Library last night. Now, the title of the event was “We Think: Will the Web be Good for Us?” which has a foreboding ring to it, doesn’t it?
Charles suggested [...]

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