Can Social Networks Make Political Decisions?

According to theories of group wisdom like those outlined in The Wisdom of Crowds and other sources, groups make better decisions more consistently than even subject-matter experts. But how to harness that wisdom?

Two researchers from University of California Santa Cruz believe they can capture collective wisdom in algorithms that can be used to make political decisions that are truly democratic. Marko Rodriguez and Daniel Steinbock outline in a paper how "trust relationships" that members of a computer-based social network create with one another can be measured, and therefore used to gauge group preference. And the larger the group, the more accurately that the decisions it makes will reflect its opinions.

Source: Futurismic