tl;dr: Rather than fighting about Privacy or Sharing we should be developing two layers of the web in tandem: a 'Privacy Layer' and a 'Real Person Layer.'
Quora seems to be reproducing the success of Wikipedia but capitalizing on authority by leveraging real people with real names. Instead of an anonymously sourced Wikipedia article, you have answers backed by the authority of a particular persona. This has the advantage of (1) letting people know if they should take this person seriously, (2) this person's answer will now be a matter of public record, so their status and 'street cred' rides on the accuracy of their answers.
It seems that real people and real faces are what make Facebook such a resoundingly popular site. Finally you don't need to guess which of the friends whose phone number or email you do have, might have a way to get in touch with one of your old pals with whom you've been out of touch. You can just friend them on facebook and whenever you need to be in touch with them in the future, you can just poke/message/post them.
All of this makes me wonder what other Web Successes out there will be reinvented as real people with real names. Search comes to mind. Eventually someone will come up with a better search than google, based on the social graph. By better I don't mean algorithmically or even measurably better, but something that feels more helpful to a person trying to find something they need. (I suggest when it is created, that that industry focus on the verb 'Find' rather than 'Search,' which is what a person would rather be doing.)
There's also room for a Real People Amazon, and a Real People EBay. This space could get extremely interesting. Also a formalized Real People Tumblr or other centralized blogging podium.
In some ways it will greatly improve the web experience. The web's inherent anonymity is great, and it definitely isn't going anywhere, but that's what I would call a 'Privacy layer' of the Web. There's another layer where open sharing and known identities can be extremely meaningful in addition to just being useful.
It's at the crossroads between these two layers that everyone is running in to trouble. When Mark Zuckerberg talks about the benefits of sharing he's really talking about the benefits of a 'Real Person' layer on the web. When critics fire back that people should have the right to hide whatever they want, they're talking about the 'Privacy Layer.' I think for the web to be truly useful we'll need to develop both layers.
Showing posts with label facebook. Show all posts
Showing posts with label facebook. Show all posts
26.7.10
Share the like
With so many people clamoring for a dislike button, you've got to wonder why facebook hasn't caved yet.
Still I think we just don't get it. Like is just a placeholder. It means the same thing as ReTweet or Share. What would be the opposite of sharing? Not sharing, not retweeting?
I happen to like the way this socially active web is developing. It follows pretty closely along one of the two major styles of self-improvement: There is the style of elimination, finding every single problematic thing and rooting it out. The opposite style, and the far more productive one to my mind, is through encouragement; focusing on the positive aspects and trying to repeat and improve them. Think of it as rewarding success rather than punishing failure.
If the social web continues along it's current path I think it's a net gain for everyone. Stop wasting your time deriding junk and start cultivating good taste.
I'd rather see a realtime stream of great content than an endless flow of dislikes. Remember it's far easier to create junk than to create something worthwhile. The dislikes would always outnumber the likes.
Let's focus on the good stuff until no one bothers to acknowledge the bad. Everyone will be better off.
Still I think we just don't get it. Like is just a placeholder. It means the same thing as ReTweet or Share. What would be the opposite of sharing? Not sharing, not retweeting?
I happen to like the way this socially active web is developing. It follows pretty closely along one of the two major styles of self-improvement: There is the style of elimination, finding every single problematic thing and rooting it out. The opposite style, and the far more productive one to my mind, is through encouragement; focusing on the positive aspects and trying to repeat and improve them. Think of it as rewarding success rather than punishing failure.
If the social web continues along it's current path I think it's a net gain for everyone. Stop wasting your time deriding junk and start cultivating good taste.
I'd rather see a realtime stream of great content than an endless flow of dislikes. Remember it's far easier to create junk than to create something worthwhile. The dislikes would always outnumber the likes.
Let's focus on the good stuff until no one bothers to acknowledge the bad. Everyone will be better off.
22.4.10
Empower yourself
Many people are discussing whether social networking is good or bad for us.
That's the wrong question. The right question is: Are the technologies you are using empowering you?
The question becomes what do I get out of the technology I'm using? It isn't a selfish question, it's a matter of pragmatism.
Blogging is great when it: (1) Gives a platform to express your ideas (2) Provides a means to broadcast those ideas (3) Allows you to receive feedback on those ideas and finally (4) allows you to organize your thoughts so that you can eventually present them in a more structured format. [The last step happens when the blog becomes a book or a startup or a project.]
Twitter is great when it (1) lets you carry on a conversation that should be overheard by whoever else may be interested or (2) query your peers for information at a moments notice.
Facebook is great when it (1) lets you catch up with old friends or (2) plan family/friend outings, or (3) share interesting information with friends and family.
The downside of Facebook, Twitter, and Blogs is that we get addicted to the stimulus and the feedback loop closes in until we're so desperate for more feedback we lose the self control to develop our ideas, our thoughts and our resources.
It's so easy to end up posting redundant or rehashed pet peeves.
It's much harder to do original thinking, especially when all the information you're consuming is the same information everyone else is consuming, which is quickly trending to regurgitations of things you all have already written and read.
The question of whether the technology empowers you, or whether it handicaps you applies beyond social networks as well.
Email, mobile phones, skype, all of it. Use it when it empowers you, when you are the one benefiting.
Drop any technology that's holding you back or sucking up your time.
Dropbox is a great example of technology that empowers you, it stays almost invisible and makes sure that any changes to any of your files are applied across all of your computers wherever they may be. You aren't by any of your computers? Oh, well then your files are also available to you on the web, or on your iPhone or wherever. Get the idea?
Blogger really allows me to focus my ideas and get them out of my head, making room for more ideas and allowing for others to comment and give me feedback on my existing ideas.
Facebook hasn't been particularly useful except to remember people I had long ago forgotten, but if I'd forgotten them, perhaps I didn't need to remember them? Occasionally, I have to admit, I can find an email address or phone number on facebook that I'm missing.. but that's the most helpful it is.
Buzz is next to useless -- turns out most of my email contacts waste as much if not more time than me sharing idiocy.
Twitter is great, but it's difficult for people to learn and takes time to make a case for why it's useful. (It's the epitome of the long tail phenomenon.) Personally, the investment of time is too great to accomplish anything that would truly empower me, which is why, even though I understand its benefits, I invest very little energy in twitter.
"Tablet" computers don't generally empower someone anymore than any other computers empower someone. The iPad is something different - it does what I want it to do faster than a more powerful computer will do the same thing -- that's what I mean by empowering.
"Smart" phones give us portable access to the internet, which can be empowering if we aren't just feeding our own feedback loop addiction. It only empowers if it makes your life easier or better. No question that smart phones pre-iPad were not empowering, with the exception of the BlackBerry.
The point here is don't waste time and energy on paranoia about privacy, addiction, or trends, the point is: Use the technology that empowers you, junk all the rest.
That's the wrong question. The right question is: Are the technologies you are using empowering you?
The question becomes what do I get out of the technology I'm using? It isn't a selfish question, it's a matter of pragmatism.
Blogging is great when it: (1) Gives a platform to express your ideas (2) Provides a means to broadcast those ideas (3) Allows you to receive feedback on those ideas and finally (4) allows you to organize your thoughts so that you can eventually present them in a more structured format. [The last step happens when the blog becomes a book or a startup or a project.]
Twitter is great when it (1) lets you carry on a conversation that should be overheard by whoever else may be interested or (2) query your peers for information at a moments notice.
Facebook is great when it (1) lets you catch up with old friends or (2) plan family/friend outings, or (3) share interesting information with friends and family.
The downside of Facebook, Twitter, and Blogs is that we get addicted to the stimulus and the feedback loop closes in until we're so desperate for more feedback we lose the self control to develop our ideas, our thoughts and our resources.
It's so easy to end up posting redundant or rehashed pet peeves.
It's much harder to do original thinking, especially when all the information you're consuming is the same information everyone else is consuming, which is quickly trending to regurgitations of things you all have already written and read.
The question of whether the technology empowers you, or whether it handicaps you applies beyond social networks as well.
Email, mobile phones, skype, all of it. Use it when it empowers you, when you are the one benefiting.
Drop any technology that's holding you back or sucking up your time.
Dropbox is a great example of technology that empowers you, it stays almost invisible and makes sure that any changes to any of your files are applied across all of your computers wherever they may be. You aren't by any of your computers? Oh, well then your files are also available to you on the web, or on your iPhone or wherever. Get the idea?
Blogger really allows me to focus my ideas and get them out of my head, making room for more ideas and allowing for others to comment and give me feedback on my existing ideas.
Facebook hasn't been particularly useful except to remember people I had long ago forgotten, but if I'd forgotten them, perhaps I didn't need to remember them? Occasionally, I have to admit, I can find an email address or phone number on facebook that I'm missing.. but that's the most helpful it is.
Buzz is next to useless -- turns out most of my email contacts waste as much if not more time than me sharing idiocy.
Twitter is great, but it's difficult for people to learn and takes time to make a case for why it's useful. (It's the epitome of the long tail phenomenon.) Personally, the investment of time is too great to accomplish anything that would truly empower me, which is why, even though I understand its benefits, I invest very little energy in twitter.
"Tablet" computers don't generally empower someone anymore than any other computers empower someone. The iPad is something different - it does what I want it to do faster than a more powerful computer will do the same thing -- that's what I mean by empowering.
"Smart" phones give us portable access to the internet, which can be empowering if we aren't just feeding our own feedback loop addiction. It only empowers if it makes your life easier or better. No question that smart phones pre-iPad were not empowering, with the exception of the BlackBerry.
The point here is don't waste time and energy on paranoia about privacy, addiction, or trends, the point is: Use the technology that empowers you, junk all the rest.
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