Atlapetes latinuchus yariguierum. No, that is not a typo--it is news. A new bird species was discovered yesterday. This bird, the Yariguies brush finch, has rare black, yellow and red plumage.
It was discovered in a remote area of the Yariguies mountains where the Columbian government has earmarked 500 acres of land in the cloud forest area to set up a national park. Why am I telling you
this? Because, as in life, everything must change, evolve, mature and arguably adapt--or face certain death.
To begin today's tale, you are the bird and the cloud forest is the Internet. You
live your life, your digital life that is, knowing where the dangers and rewards are, how to navigate your environment and your community. All of a sudden, you are discovered by an explorer --a good
thing or a bad thing? Well, if you are at risk in some way of losing your home, your environment, your way of life, then it could be a good thing. Maybe the explorer's discovery of you will prompt
change for the better--better tools, better access to food, a larger community.
But what if the discovery means that not one or two people come into your world, but hundreds? Thousands? And
arguably uninvited, offering you new ways to build your nest? Live a healthier life? Upgrade to better wings so that you can fly in style? Better your credit score? Get an online education? All of a
sudden the world that you know and love is forever transformed. Would you stay or would you up and move? I have no idea--but I have a pretty good guess.
It is rather fitting that this week we
celebrated the arrival of Christopher Columbus to the New World. He was an explorer, but also a conqueror--and with every conquest, every new discovery, there was a price paid by the native
populations, some good and some bad.
Now, I am not going to tell you who the explorer is in my tale--you can get there on your own. Nor am I saying that yesterdays' conquest wasn't expected or
strategically or operationally the right move for the explorer. The question that I am asking is this: Is a free-standing, organically grown and communally sustainable, online user-generated content
community able to survive its conquest by an 800-pound gorilla? You tell me.