If you read one thing this week on social media and social change, check out Ethan Zuckerman’s March 2008 write up, “The Cute Cat Theory Talk at ETech.” (and thanks to MakeSomethingHappen for pointing it out – We like cute cats too.)
Not entirely consciously, but my last couple posts have stumbled around themes of social media, marketing, and activism. The theme becomes more apparent to me perhaps because of a new project I’m involved in that is both directly and indirectly related due to our focus on “content and community.” Zuckerman’s article is another [personal] bread crumb but as it relates to our underlying theme here on CovertlyObvious and because it points to some key concepts I figured I’d chime in.
(Italicized quotations are Zuckerman’s)
“…I’d offer the hypothesis that any sufficiently advanced read/write technology will get used for two purposes: pornography and activism. Porn is a weak test for the success of participatory media – it’s like tapping a mike and asking, “Is it on?” If you’re not getting porn in your system, it doesn’t work. Activism is a stronger test – if activists are using your tools, it’s a pretty good indication that your tools are useful and usable.”
Get’s right into our own content here on CovertlyObvious, no? As I mentioned, I’m involved in a new venture that we’re hoping will long be remembered as one of the first few apps that moved past the Web 2.0 “noise” or at least will be within the niche we’re calling out. The collective action, the collective dialog, the background “wisdom” that exists in the synergy of the Web is great – my problem is that the Web, for the most part, is entirely too noisy. Most of the noise is gimmick and gaming the gimmick which will [or is] leading to utility. Utility is a great thing. Utility adds to productivity, gimmick doesn’t – or generally doesn’t immediately translate to usable value.
“With web 2.0, we’ve embarced the idea that people are going to share pictures of their cats, and now we build sophisticated tools to make that easier to do. as a result, we’re creating a wealth of tech that’s extremely helpful for activists. There are twin revolutions going on – the ease of creating content and the ease of sharing it with local and global audiences.”
Exactly. This is what has kept me hanging on. In my consulting work I’ve found that organizations suffer from the same thing I discovered when attempting to finish my basement – there are some very cool tools out there that, despite being “professional grade” and very expensive, net you nothing in the absence of any clue as to how one would go about actually finishing a basement. There is a lot of technology in search of a problem to solve and even more “just plain cool shit” on the web that is hoping someone figures out how to do more than provide faster porn and add to the never ending list of friends.
Doing, or more importantly, gaining proficiency only comes from a combination of time and determination though – something that mission statements and corporate reinvention initiatives generally don’t fully incorporate. And here we are with Web 2.0 – there would appear to be a collective “Now what?” that we are asking (with exception of perhaps the Tila Tequilla crowd who have been appropriately incentivized and “arrived”). So, the revolution – at least we’re hoping – is molting the “Ooooo neat!” skin and moving into an evolutionary phase where there is a value based utility beyond “pictures of cute cats” and ultra-uninhibited singaporean women – Hi, Tila! That’s not to say there isn’t utility out there.
“Of course, the activists win sometimes too. When Google Maps became accessible in Bahrain, it let Bahrani activists answer a pressing question in that small, crowded nation – who owns all the land? From the air, it becomes pretty clear that large chunks of the nation are reserved for palaces owned by the royal family.”
The incredible thing is that when you strip out the generalized headlines there are micro-groups and non-organized organizations – (Clay Shirky’s “Here Comes Everybody”) - small backstories - that are able to benefit because of the collective noise that drowns them out as well as the dynamic nature of data. In the cognitive mass of the web there becomes transiently localized and collective tidbits that can be and often are absolutely meaningless to anyone else but do actually, unintentionally, bring varying levels of actual enlightenment, engagement and action.
It’s the non-intentional good that really does highlight the true potential available Gimmick leads to the actual innovation via a backstory of necessity.
“It’s typical to end these sorts of talks with a call to action, possibly a better one than “export lolcats to repressive nations”. If there’s a single message to the talk, it is that activists are going to use your tools if your tools are any good – watch them, pay attention to them, protect them and learn from them. They’ll make tour tools better, and they’re one of the reasons to make social software in the first place.”
Therein lies the power and the evolution of the web. Now I need to go apologize to some cat lovers out there…
