The Cluetrain Manifesto

This assignment is worth 100 Points.

The first blogging assignment is really a collaborative writing assignment. Each team is to read a part of the Cluetrain Manifesto and create a team response. The response will be from your team’s perspective and should include a piece on how the Cluetrain’s themes are being supported by the read/write web and how our society is beginning to support the themes of the Cluetrain. I’m not looking for pages of content, I am after some very tight reflection, with some very tight insight into how the Cluetrain is relevant to today and how our world is starting to adopt the ideas. Remember, this is not a book report, this is a reflection. Below you’ll find the general criteria and more details about the assignment. Again, it should be stressed that a narrative should be written, not bullet points … this is less about answering a series of questions and more about opening the mind and responding to the concepts. First read these three pieces from the Cluetrain … stop complaining, there isn’t much here to read and this is really good stuff … so take the time to read the following parts — its all free online:

  1. Read the Foreword
  2. Read the 95 Theses
  3. Read Chapter 1

Ok, now that you’ve read the parts of the book I have assigned, take some time to form a basic reflection of each part — as individual pieces and as a total grouping. Answer these questions:

  • What are your overall impressions of the concept the authors are discussing?
  • Which of the 95 Theses seem most relevant to you (and your team) and why?
  • Each member of the team must write a reflection to their 3 favorite Theses, why they are that member’s favorite and why.
  • Have you heard of the concepts discussed by the authors?
  • In general, do you agree with the direction of the readings?
  • Has reading the parts of the book made you more interested in how the web is being used today and looking forward?

As the second part of the reflection, I’d like you to apply some of the tenants discussed to the 110 Problem Assignment (if you haven’t read that yet, shame on you! Go do it!). The Problem Assignment is a direct result of the concepts in the book — bottom up communities work while top-heavy initiatives seem to drive the community away. How has reading the pieces of the book helped you attack the problem? Has it changed your perspective on how the web can and should be used to support a growing community? One other thing, the individual thoughts can be placed in the team-based response, or as comments to the post. That is up to you.

To respond to this assignment, please create one personal blog post at blogs@110. It should be from a single person in your team. The important thing is that you tag it with the right categories. For this assignment use the tags, Assignmnet Type = Cluetrain Response, Completed By = Team, Courses = 110, Post Type = Blog Entry, Semester = Fall 2005 … tags are critical — use them! Assessment This team-based assignment is worth 100 points. Your team’s response will be graded based on the following:

  • It is clear that the response is based on the readings
  • A solid summary is there to allow a reader to grasp the main points from the readings
  • An original perspective on the readings is evident
  • each team member added their own reflection to the overall submission
  • The questions posed above are answered clearly and completely
  • Applied the tenants of the book to the 110 Challenge and how they relate
  • Submitted your post according to the directions above and used the appropriate tags … Assignmnet Type = Cluetrain Response, Completed By = Team, Courses = 110, Post Type = Blog Entry, Semester = Fall 2005

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