Force is the third of the four themes comprising Conversation (the first concept of the Ontology Of Participation). The force of Conversation happens when an increasing number of people involved in adaptive behaviors exert a force that may trigger a community (the primordial goo of adaptive enterprises).

For example, the introduction of blogging software enabled motivated individuals to share their thoughts with large audiences without any expertise in formatting content for publication on the web (previously a requirement). Content was easily produced, which ignited a trend and brought greater quantities of people into the activity. Like-minded bloggers soon connected with one another via comments on each others posts, trackback links, and the blogroll. Eventually, bloggers convened in the real world at blogger-specific conferences (BloggerCon, BlogHer, Wine Bloggers, etc.). Not only was the convergence of bloggers inevitable, but a tension with mainstream media emerged (e.g., Rathergate). While a battle between traditional and participative media wages on, the lines between the two are just beginning to blur. Today, 'the media' is enamored with tools like Facebook (see Rick Sanchez of CNN) and Twitter (as usual, the Daily Show nails it) as well as implementing their own (NYTimes blogs, CNN iReports).

[Apple Newton from brianmadden.com by Brian Madden] One of the most fascinating examples centers on an Apple product, but not one you might think. It's actually the Apple Newton (Apple's mid 1990s PDA). While the Newton was shelved in the late 90s, a small but vibrant group of individuals kept using the device. As support from the manufacturer dwindled, users began servicing the device on their own. Eventually, a community formed: enter NewtonTalk. This community has kept the Newton alive for nearly a decade. They've kept third party applications working, created replacement hardware components, and even developed an emulation that enables the Newton Operating system to run on different devices. I'll post more on NewtonTalk later as an example of Hard Hacking & Soft Hacking.