Interesting findings about group intelligence from WikiWorld.

"Some findings of the EIES Legacy era

1. Without structure, the larger the group, the worse the decision.
2. Up to five experts can improve a group decision.
3. On-line groups do at least as well as face to face groups.
4. Face to face groups tend to be dominated by one or two (usually male) participants.
5. Participants on on-line groups participate equally (gender independent).
6. Participants will collaborate only if their privacy and control is protected.
7. Competitors will collaborate only with respect to established shared principles.
8. the ideal group size is two. larger qroups can be made most effective by maximising the effectiveness of individual pairings and decomposing activities into smaller groups down to one on one activities.
9. 25% of on-line group members get addicted to the system and apply it beyond its intended use, another 25% use it effectively, 25% use it due to group pressure, and 25% never use it. Success often demands including the absent.
10. Anonomymity and pseudonyms aid forth right communications, particularly in heirarchical organizations.
11. Tailoring a system for a group imparts a feeling of ownership and improves utilization beyond the added value of the tools provided.
12. On-line asyncronous collaborative learning is as effective as the traditional classrom without the time and place constraints."

http://www.wikiworld.com/wiki/index.php/CollectiveIntelligence