The mess of Knowledge Management groups on LinkedIn

There is no shortage of Knowledge Management discussion groups on Linkedin. I posted a list of 35 of them back in February 2009 when that was all I could find. But in reading this post by Ian Wooler it looks like the number has grown dramatically. Here's Ian's summary:

• 26 Alumni groups
• 32 Corporate groups
• 20 Conference groups
• 132 Networking groups
• 16 Nonprofit groups
• 196 Professional groups.

Nick Milton points out that this is a total of 422 groups and comments "What a mess!" And explains why in an earlier post.

I am not so sure though that it could be any different unless some form of centralised control of the discussions was implemented which is not what the web is about. I also don't think that it would be a good thing.

Discusssion is naturally fragmented and messy. Exerting control over it, even if possible, would diminish creativity, freedom of expression and diversity.

Maybe we need a better balance between mess and order? But if so, who would define and agree it and how would it be achieved?

What are your thoughts?