Twittering Your Life Away?
I don’t understand how chickens make eggs, but I certainly enjoy eating them. In the same vein, I can’t easily explain what Twitter is (many have tried), but I can already see how communication channels are being rerouted and re-prioritized. Some people think it is narcissistic, voyeuristic, or at worst exhibitionist to post on Twitter (or, Facebook, Friendfeed, et al).
However, those that “get it,” realize that Twitter merely moves the back channel to the forefront. The back channel is no longer confined to slow-moving lobby chatter or post-meeting, hallway conversations. The back channel now happens real-time – during the meeting.
Leaders and administrators who dismiss this back channel, do so at their own peril. No longer can one wait for rumors or negative attitudes to bubble to the surface, often whole attitude shifts in one’s sphere of influence will occur before a meeting or presentation is over. In fact, some presentations have been hijacked by irrelevant or off-target presenters. A person’s future may live or die on the back channel; this has always been true, but now the process is accelerated. 
Yes, to the casual observer, Twitter conversations may seem inane and irrelevant within themselves, but like most casual banter, these tweets allow relationships to develop and prepare for greater levels of intimacy. Real-life tweetups serve to foster real-life relationships too! Indeed, electronic media allow one to expand their circle of friends beyond mere geographic or employment related friendships. One can find friends over a broader area (globally?) And find people who share their unique geekiness, sense of humor, intelligence, spiritual bent, or whatever.
And then there’s the Twitter back channel. The unwritten rule is that anything requiring more than three tweets should go to DM, IM, or some other private channel. To the casual participant, or lurker, they may not be included in this part of the continuing conversation.
the big picture issues are not being discussed”
The most interesting thing about Twitter, its supporters, and the detractors is the big picture issue that is not being discussed. Increasingly, there is a greater call in our society for more openness, transparency, accountability, and authenticity. This means not just revealing all the good things, good feelings, and successes in one’s life – but also revealing the heartaches, failures, and denigrating issues. This probably applies more to leaders and organizations than they would ever imagine.
In my research over the past 10-15 years, I’ve learned much about why people are fleeing the traditional institutions of our society: namely, the Four Estates. (This fleeing of the estates does not include the Third Estate, The Commoners, as this group seems to be growing as more and more people flee organized institutions – but that’s another post for another day!) It is the lack of transparency, openness, accountability, and authenticity that is an overarching cause of apathy towards traditional institutions and three of the four estates.
We have entered a new era of “taxation without representation” (another post for another day) and people are very disillusioned by this. Apathy is the new rebellion – people don’t vote, they don’t attend organized, institutionalized churches, newspapers are going bankrupt, and people are losing hope that the government or the churches can turn this society around (The jury is still out on the Obama leadership, but obviously it is the conservatives turn to be apathetic now.).
Recently I’ve gotten some heat for my negative tweets. I am searching for a way to remain authentic and transparent, but without offending others. It is my belief that if I only post the good thoughts, I loose credibility. If I restrain myself from posting when I am angry, depressed, disgruntled, out of whack, or disengaged, then my followers will give less credibility to the other posts.
each post is a part of the greater conversation”
I don’t see each post as complete within itself, but rather as a part of the greater conversation. In my weekly presentations, I do not try to wrap them up nicely, like a sitcom, in one 40 minute dialog. Each blog post is a part of a larger exchange of ideas. This is what social media is all about. The replies come at me in many forms. A post on Twitter may be replied to in real life; a blog post may receive replies on Twitter, Facebook, the blog itself, Friendfeed, identi.ca, real life meetups, or even via email – or another person’s blog! In fact, sometimes the only way I see a reply to a post (in any form) is because I use search tools to find them. I’ve even gotten replies on Flickr for a tweet that I posted months ago.
This ongoing exchange of ideas, emotions, and back channel conversations has allowed me to meet with people that most faith community leaders will never encounter. I am in constant dialog with these people, but I do not approach these friendships as if I am the only one with the “right” answers. It is an exchange of ideas, nuances, and world views. I gain as much as I offer – sometimes more, sometimes less.
Credit: David Armano - a senior partner at Dachis Corp. Logic+Emotion exists at the intersection of business, design + the social web. http://is.gd/x1BV
I t occurred to me that more linear thinkers would have trouble seeing the tapestry and mosaic of ideas in the nonlinear world of social-networking. Where I may be able to connect the dots, they may appear invisible to others. My challenge is to meet the needs of my stakeholders, while still connecting with those pre-stakeholders. To eliminate 10% of my posts would diminish these connections, so I’m trying to figure out how to satisfy these conflicting points of view.
Any ideas?
Vive la dérive!
I’ve had to alter my course this week. I had many plans, much to atone for, and much to prepare for. But, due to circumstances out of my control, The Wife came down with some version of the flu – H1N1, but some less exotic brand, I’m sure. Of course, this never comes as planned.
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday turned out to be some of the most memorable days I’ve had in some time. There was laughter, exploration, joy, hunger, tears, and all manner of emotions that comes from raising kids. But most of all, I was able to expose my kids to the awesome serendipity of drifting. Vive la dérive!
At first I was caught a little flat footed. Mommy was in bed, and I had the kids – tired and demoralized from a meeting the night before, I was thinking I’d just hang out and try to keep them alive. Then the inspiration hit – we grabbed coats, shoes, and rain gear and hit the road. Before I knew it, we were in Cathlamet, Washington – a small fishing port on the North shore of the Columbia River.
Enjoy the photos:
We didn’t plan on it, but we ended up at the marina in Cathlamet, there’s a small park and access to the, um, “beach.” The tide was out, so we were able to wander a bit in the much and sand. Before we knew it, we were throwing live freshwater clams back into the water. We were “saving clams!”
The weather was a bit cold, with a bit of rain, and wind, but we were exploring and having fun.
Suddenly, a couple appeared on the beach and they pointed out an 18th century sailing ship replica that was coming into the Marina. We gathered our stuff and headed over to the pier to see it.
It wasn’t much, but this was our first quick view of this unique vessel – of course we hurried over to see it closer.
It turns out this vessel sails up and down the Pacific Coast conducting educational tours and evens for school children and cruises for history-minded folks. After waiting for them to fully moor, we were invited to come aboard and look around. I had my Smiling Son in the backpack carrier, and Darling Daughter was quite curious of it all.
This photo, before we boarded, reminds me so much of the various experiences my maternal grandfather used to take me to. When I was my daughter’s age, he was mine. I credit much of my desire to explore to he and my Mom – they were very curious and creative.
As we boarded the boat, we discovered they were a non-profit organization and were accepting donations for our impromptu tour. Of course, all I had was a twenty, so I took some change out of the little seachest – I hate doing that, it makes me feel so cheap.
I know just enough about sailing to sound like a goofball. My attempts at connecting with the crew were futile, so I focused on my kids.
I almost brought my good camera, but didn’t really expect to do much more than go to some park, in the rain. I know enough to know that I don’t like dragging my big DSLR around when I’m trying to be a participant – not a spectator.
But of course, as soon as I saw this ship on the water, I was wishing I’d thought harder. Either way, my phone makes a pretty good point and shoot camera and video recorder.
When I took this photo, I knew it was something she may treasure when she’s older and the captain of her own domain.
By this time, I was just enjoying the ride and loving being with my kids. I love sharing these experiences with my family. I was sad that Mommy wasn’t there to enjoy this with us – but I knew she was getting some much needed rest.
Sometimes my attempts at self portraits are successful, sometimes not. This was actually an attempt to get my Smiling (but sleepy) Son into the photo action – I missed. But again, maybe someday he’ll appreciate this.
When I took the next picture, I told my daughter that it was going to be “nifty” – and I think it is!
Later that night, both kids got baths. It had been a long day and they were ready for bed.
On Wednesday, we went for a long drive up towards Mt. St. Helens. It was raining and Smiling Son slept, while DD and I listened to Anne of Green Gables on CD.
On Thursday, we ended up on the beach in Rainier. Again, unplanned and unprepared – we just hopped into the car and ended up where we ended up.
It was a good day in the sun. We saw eagles, osprey, ships, and the water. The wonderful, peaceful water. I found myself just sitting in the sand while my kids explored their world. It was a good day.
As we were getting ready to leave, I looked up, and there were our friends on the Hawaiian Chieftain, sailing into the Port of Rainier.
You can see more photos and videos of these three days here and here.
Symphonic Ideation of our Soul
Back in the day, long ago when color TV was still a novelty, I was trying to figure out girls, sports, and life. Adolescence is a tough time. At 17, I went off to college without a clue as to who I wanted to be when I grew up. Meanwhile, in a land far away, two teams of men were about to change the world. Now, without hardly a speck of amazement, personal computers have permeated our lives. Not counting PDAs, scientific calculators, and smart phones, there are more PCs in this household than there are people.
So what? You may ask. This isn’t news, or blog-worthy.
Well, as I write, I’m watching and listening to the YouTube Symphony Orchestra performance at Carnegie Hall. If you haven’t seen it, you are missing out. Even if you don’t have time to watch the two+ hours, at least listen to the Maestro’s introduction, which is only a couple of minutes long.
As I listen to this ultimate mashup, my mind begins to expand on some of the great things that have come out of the personal computer revolution. Of course we have email, IM, forums, information on demand, mapping, news, video, photos, socialnetworking, and dozens of other frameworks that are a normal part of our lives. Many of these were in their infancy just 20 years ago, and most people didn’t begin using these tools until the late 1990s.
In the past, governments completed the major engineering and artistic marvels. The empire may have collapsed and the culture died, but we have archaeological relics that live on. Even in our lifetimes, we have seen some significant architectural and engineering marvels (eg; the Interstate Highway System, nationwide power, water, and communications infrastructures, amazingly tall buildings, and so on). However, in the last few years some amazing technologies have been developed and implemented, almost right before our eyes.
I’d like to point out a few of these for you to think about:
- Google. In its many permutations, Google has unarguably changed the world. Most of what they offer for our use is free to use and wasn’t created through a democratic process. Google Maps, Google Earth, and Google Search are just three amazing technologies that enable a more egalitarian approach to research, discovery, and analysis. Even if Google, as a company does not survive, the body of information and the tools they’ve created will always be central to our society.
- Microsoft. Though the company and some of it’s products have lost much of their cache in the last decade, the man central to the success of Microsoft, is using his wealth to accomplish things that world governments were powerless to address. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is committed to eliminating malaria, hunger, and other pressing issues in developing nations. Again, the amount of money they are contributing to these causes comes mostly without government input or the democratic process.
- YouTube. Listening and watching the video posted above makes me shake my head in wonder. I doubt any of the classic composers ever imagined a worldwide symphony orchestra playing their compositions. This ultimate mashup is just the beginning of what is available to the common user. My mind is so stunned by the potentialities of this medium, that I can barely pull together the words.
- Apple, Intel, Twitter, Facebook, Cysco, Blogging, Geo-Location tools, et al. I cannot name every great technological revolutionary, and there are many I’m not even aware of, but nonetheless, our world will not be the same in the next 30 years.
It seems as if every month a new use for these tools is created. Each time a new tool is introduced, I am not surprised. In fact, I often wonder why no one thought of it sooner. The governments are being left to maintain the infrastructures, fight wars, and manage social services. Meanwhile, the people, armed with their simple PCs (Macs, Linux, and Microsoft) are changing the world – one idea at a time.
I get excited by ideas, as I know many do. The possibilities of these tools are endless – and so is our potential. The question is, what will we do with these gifts? All these tools, all these ideas, what is the symphony we can create?
Think about it…
But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.“ – Daniel 12:4
Confessing my Dad Attitude 