In March 2016, the UK\u2019s Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) announced a contest to name a new polar research vessel.\u00a0 The ship would be 410 feet long, be capable of breaking through 3-meter-thick ice, carry nearly 100 people as well as a helicopter pad, and cost approximately $300 million to construct.\u00a0 The naming contest, of course, was intended to engage the public and raise awareness of the NERC and its new ship.<\/p>\n
The contest took an unexpected turn when former BBC personality James Hand submitted a proposal to name the vessel \u201cRSS Boaty McBoatface.\u201d\u00a0 His entry was intended to be humorous (Mr. Hand in fact voted to name the ship after a well-known British environmentalist, Sir David Attenborough).\u00a0 Boaty McBoatface, however, quickly emerged as the leading candidate.\u00a0 As the absurd story spread throughout the English-speaking world, the contest attracted more and more attention, and ultimately caused the NERC website to crash.\u00a0 The NERC tried to maintain a semblance of control over the process, announcing, \u201cWe\u2019ve had thousands of suggestions; many of them reflect the importance of the ship\u2019s scientific role by celebrating great British explorers and scientists\u2026 We are pleased that people are embracing the idea in a spirit of fun.\u201d\u00a0 But by that time they had already lost control of the story.\u00a0 In the end, Boaty McBoatface claimed over 124,000 votes, with the next four finishers garnering only about 70,000 combined.<\/p>\n
The NERC had indicated prior to the start of the contest that the public\u2019s vote would be non-binding, and they ultimately chose to name the vessel the RSS Sir David Attenborough (the public\u2019s fifth-place choice, with just 10,000 votes).\u00a0 While the NERC would nonetheless claim that their contest was a runaway success (thanks to the enthusiasm it generated), other stakeholders \u2013 namely, the government and the public \u2013 were none too pleased.\u00a0 The Science and Technology Committee of the House of Lords announced a review of the naming process, and publicly interrogated NERC executives.\u00a0 One Lord asked, \u201cIn light of the fact that the new Royal Research Ship is a ship and not a boat, what is [your] assessment of the suitability of the name Boaty McBoatface for that vessel?\u201d (the author assumes he was not subtly advocating for Shippy McShipface).\u00a0 Meanwhile, many voters were disappointed that their collective will had been ignored.\u00a0 One Twitter user lamented, \u201cIf this boat isn\u2019t named Boaty McBoatface, then democracy has failed.\u201d\u00a0 A new petition emerged, requesting that Sir David Attenborough change his name to Boaty McBoatface.\u00a0 Many users who had not<\/em> supported the Boaty McBoatface name were also sour.\u00a0 Several chastised their fellow voters: \u201cImagine [if] Boaty McBoatface sank and everybody died\u2026 imagine the news having to read that out with a straight face,\u201d and, \u201c[This is] not a name that will inspire confidence in its ability to provide credible research.\u201d<\/p>\n This episode highlights one of the key tensions of employing crowds \u2013 namely, controlling<\/em> them.\u00a0 The Boaty McBoatface episode demonstrates how contests can take-on a life and story of their own \u2013 and in fact how the crowds themselves<\/em> can take on a culture of their own \u2013 potentially undermining the intent, reputation, or interests of the host.\u00a0 This is not a phenomenon unique to British research vessels.\u00a0 Many (or perhaps all) businesses that rely on crowds must confront the question of where to draw lines for participant behavior, when to block content, and when to expel participants.\u00a0 Facebook is struggling with how to handle so-called \u201cfake news\u201d and the live-streaming of disturbing events.\u00a0 Airbnb is struggling with the alleged discriminatory practices of its housing providers.\u00a0 Wikipedia is a perpetual battleground for different opinions on contentious issues.\u00a0 How to handle these issues will be a challenge for crowd-based models for years to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What happens when crowds lead you places you don't want to go?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1114,"featured_media":4513,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[664],"class_list":["post-4512","hck-submission","type-hck-submission","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crowds"],"connected_submission_link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/assignment\/managing-digital-crowds\/","yoast_head":"\n