Daniel's Place

What happens when all the world’s a Twitter?

Many folks have heard of an election in Iran, Michael Jackson’s death, and Jeff Goldblum’s fake death. We know that news is spreading virally, spreading faster.

Jeff Goldblum’s death may not have been a mistake. Jeff Goldblum played Ian Malcolm in the movie versions of Jurassic Park and The Lost World. Perhaps his fake death is an allusion to something the Ian Malcolm’s character mentioned in The Lost World.

 …Although, personally, I think cyberspace means the end of our species…

…Why is that?

… because it means the end of innovation.This idea that the whole world is wired together is mass death. Every biologist knows that small groups in isolation evolve fastest. You put a thousand birds on an ocean island and they’ll evolve very fast. You put ten thousand on a big continent, and their evolution slows down. Now, for our own species, evolution occurs mostly through our behavior. We innovate new behavior to adapt. And everybody on earth knows that innovation only occurs in small groups. Put three people on a committee and they may get something done. Ten people, and it gets harder. Thirty people, and nothing happens. Thirty million, it becomes impossible. That’s the effect of mass media-it keeps anything from happening. Mass media swamps diversity. It makes every place the same. Bangkok or Tokyo or London: there’s a McDonald’s on one corner, a Benetton on another, a Gap across the street. Regional differences vanish. All differences vanish. In a mass-media world, there’s less of everything except the top ten books, records, movies, ideas. People worry about losing species diversity in the rain forest. But what about intellectual diversity-our most necessary resource? That’s disappearing faster than trees. But we haven’t figured that out, so now we’re planning to put five billion people together in cyberspace. And it’ll freeze the entire species. Everything will stop dead in its tracks. Everyone will think the same at the same time. Global uniformity.

Sounds scary. But I don’t think Ian Malcolm’s proposal is coming to life and the four horsemen of the apocalypse are riding into town tweeting on their Blackberries. It just means that in our increasingly connected world, we should view individuality as a more prized commodity.

Why you should present at BarCamp

I recently attended participated in BarCamp Seattle. BarCamp is an ad-hoc gathering of folks to openly discuss interesting subjects in the tech field. Sessions put heavy focus on discussion and knowledge sharing. It was my first time and I’m hooked. 

While the BarCamp website has loads more information, the rules of BarCamp struck a note very close to my eastside condo-living heart: 

• 1st Rule: You do talk about BarCamp.
• 2nd Rule: You do blog about BarCamp.
• 3rd Rule: If you want to present, you must write your topic and name in a presentation slot.
• 4th Rule: Only three word intros.
• 5th Rule: As many presentations at a time as facilities allow for.
• 6th Rule: No pre-scheduled presentations, no tourists.
• 7th Rule: Presentations will go on as long as they have to or until they run into another presentation slot.
• 8th Rule: If this is your first time at BarCamp, you HAVE to present. (Ok, you don’t really HAVE to, but try to find someone to present with, or at least ask questions and be an interactive participant.

The 8th rule I read the night before the event. With plenty of time left over, Matt and I worked until the early hours of the morning on a presentation. We posted our topic on the wall (Matt makes the coolest cards): 

Twitter is Dead (long live Twitter): an open discussion on new directions for social media

With no sleep and a high blood-caffeine content, we stood in front of an audience and gave a sparsely practiced talk about the future of Twitter and social media and how it could become more helpful to our daily lives. Once the talk was over, an open discussion began. 

The results blew me away. 

People around the room diverse in career background, Twitter/social media experience, and opinion began to build on our talk and offer critiques. It seemed that most people in the crowded room had a thought or question to share and the presentation morphed into an open discussion moderated by the presenters. 

Matt and I collected an invaluable pile of thoughts and questions to ponder throughout the rest of the day. I also got in some much needed presentation practice. 

The bottom line: Anyone with a good idea and a chance should give a talk at BarCamp. It’s fun and educational.

Other sessions

I attended other sessions covering social media information overload, user centered design, startups, social media analytics, and the amusing PowerPoint Karaoke. Each session broke into a discussion and some sessions were entirely discussions. I heard the thoughts and experiences of industry professionals, enthusiasts, and casual users. 

Where many conferences offer the speaker a pulpit and too much time, BarCamp gives the audience significant control and participation. The speaker even learns a thing or two. 

Thanks!

A special word of thanks to all of the organizers. You put together an amazing venue, brought a great interactive crowd, and kept us all fed, caffeinated, thinking, and entertained. I look forward to my next BarCamp. 

Closing thoughts 

Go to BarCamp. After the first day we all headed to the Red Door in Fremont to drink for free (thanks Bing!), be merry, and network more. The whole event was a blast and a great way to spend a weekend in Seattle. 

Here’s a list of links: 

• Flickr photos of BarCamp Seattle
• BarCamp website
• Twitter is Dead slide deck

Last weekend I went to BarCamp Seattle. I’m in the process of writing up that experience here. Matt and I got great feedback on our presentations and we’re working diligently to bring some of these ideas to life.

In the meantime, I am left with this warm glowing feeling that my blog can take a new direction from “ROFL C#” and “I Can Haz Right of Way? (another ranting cycling blog)”