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In a 2005 debate in Reason magazine, Whole Foods founder and CEO John Mackey articulated his vision of virtuous, socially responsible business.

"Human nature isn't just about self-interest," Mackey wrote, paraphrasing Adam Smith. "It also includes sympathy, empathy, friendship, love, and the desire for social approval. As motives for human behavior, these are at least as important as self-interest. For many people, they are more important."

In July of last year it was revealed that Mackey used a pseudonym in numerous online posts critical of Whole Foods' competitor Wild Oats, a chain of natural supermarkets Mackey was in the midst of trying to acquire.

Encouraging employees to practice virtue in factory and community is one thing; getting CEOs to do the same may be a challenge of a different order.

User participation often more or less follows a 90-9-1 rule:

• 90% of users are lurkers (i.e., read or observe, but don't contribute).
  
• 9% of users contribute from time to time, but other priorities dominate their time.
  
• 1% of users participate a lot and account for most contributions: it can seem as if they don't have lives because they often post just minutes after whatever event they're commenting on occurs.