At the [Boston Workshop|http://www.omidyar.net/group/netchange/news/42/], Internet pioneer [David Reed|http://www.omidyar.net/group/netchange/news/42/10/] made some very interesting comments about the [Reeds Law | http://www.reed.com/dprframeweb/dprframe.asp] value of group-forming networks: [http://static.flickr.com/34/66006905_088f545c1e.jpg] photo courtesy [Doc Searls|http://doc.weblogs.com] !The value created in a group-forming network is limited by attention As groups of groups network together, the value created in the network goes up exponentially with the size of the groups involved. This "sneaky exponential" would create value greater than our GDP if not limited by something - and David points out that attention is the limiting factor. This is a very interesting thing to consider. Can we create a __Pay Attention__ tool that specifically increases our ability to pay attention to what's working to make the world a better place? !Viral Communications David's work at MITs [Viral Communications Laboratory| http://dl.media.mit.edu/viral/], particularly his paper on [Viral Communications|http://dl.media.mit.edu/viral/viral.pdf]. He is writing specifically about electronic communications networks, but the same ideas can be applied to social or electronic networks of uplift: We use the term viral architecture to mean a system that is adopted “virally” as that term has come to be used in the marketing industry. Viral adoption refers to a system architecture that can be adopted incrementally, and gains momentum as it scales. The growth behavior of such a system can be called viral growth. Though many systems are somewhat scalable, many are not viral, because they require a critical mass of adoption before any benefit is achieved. For example, a cellular telephone system is somewhat scalable, but until it reaches a certain scale of coverage, it provides no benefit to users (thus requiring a major upfronti nvestment, and concomitant means to recoup that investment), and its scalability is limited by the inability to locate towers densely. In contrast, wireless Internet access using 802.11 architecture is more viral – an 802.11 access point eliminates the need to wire your home, and your laptop then can connect without effort in many other places as you take it with you __Each new element of a viral architecture must not deplete the capabilities of those that were there before__ -- to gain momentum, each __new element must create more value from connecting into the system than from operating alone.__ That is, each adoption is a “win-win” decision – the existing elements gain a little more benefit from the new element, and each new element has a stronger value proposition for joining the system. Momentum results from this process, because a reluctant adopter will eventually be attracted to adopt when the scale reaches his cost/benefit tradeoff even when the architecture still has small reach. In the case of fax machines, this happened when enough of your contacts had or used fax machines that the case for owning one became compelling. A virtuous cycle results from a growing market cutting manufacturing costs, and increasing benefits to each new purchaser. There are two primary design principles that lead to a viral architecture: __scalability and independence.__ *The first states that a viral system ought to be able to grow almost without bound, and *the second requires that its elements operate autonomously, without connection to a central authority. In essence, one should be able to freely add elements and they should work without connection to a backbone. This works for automobiles as long as there are sufficient roads, and we will show that 1. that it can work for communications and 2. that the __roadways are essentially infinite.__ Secondary concerns are that a viral system be future proof and adaptable. In automobiles, the presence of either new cars or new routes does not obsolesce existing ones. A communications device should work indefinitely no matter what other communicators enter the environment and no matter how the underlying communications technology evolves. We define a Viral Communications Architecture to be one where elements are __independent__, scalable and __where each new element adds capacity to the system, so that it can be adopted incrementally from a small base and gains accelerating value with scale.__