Ecosystems are not about design or control

Marnie Webb always triggers a good thought or two:

It’s about turning over part of yourself. In two essays (1, 2) Peter Merholz argues that it’s not about the technology. He writes: “Web 2.0 is primarily interesting from a philosophical standpoint. It’s about relinquishing control, it’s about openness, it’s about trust and authenticity. APIs, Tags, Ajax, mashups, and all that are symptoms, outputs, results of this philosophical bent.”

In a Social Source Ecosystem, openness, trust and authenticity are cultural norms. The actual code and behavior of actors are just "symptoms, outputs and results of this philisophical bent."