A cartoon about how we live & work in a digital world
A while back, a friend of mine wondered about LinkedIn‘s somewhat limited options for indicating how you know someone. (“I vomited on their shoes at the office party” isn’t on the list, for example.) We had a back-and-forth on her blog, and I came up with a list of some potentially useful additions to LinkedIn’s categories.
Probably no need to mention that this cartoon was inspired by the Web 2.0 Expo debacle involving danah boyd, a Twitter backchannel projected onto a giant screen behind her, a speech that faced an uphill battle from the get-go, and a few audience members with some impulse control (and other) issues.
There’s a fascinating renegotiation going on between audiences and speakers. Twitter and backchannels are part of it, but I suspect something deeper is afoot. There’s a revolution sweeping all forms of communication – ask anyone who works for a newspaper or a record company – and maybe we shouldn’t be surprised that even something as seemingly timeless as public speaking would be affected.
But that doesn’t mean we have to be jerks about it.
This came to me while reading Dave Eave’s post about the challenges of turning the promise of crowd-sourced quality control in open-source development – the idea that “many eyes make all bugs shallow“. (It turns out the challenges are substantial, whether you’re building software or managing a city.)
By the way, I’m starting to draw the occasional cartoon live on Ustream. Follow me on Twitter (@robcottingham) to find out when I’m doing the next one; meanwhile, here’s what today’s looked like (the sound, unfortunately, got pretty distorted).
Is there anything more fun than drawing a rampaging robot intent on destroying civilization? (Answer: being a rampaging robot intent on destroying civilization.) Update: Alex reminds me that the idea for this one came from her recap of Jer Thorpe‘s amazing session last week on Processing. (What she doesn’t mention is that she made the connection, suggesting I do a cartoon about an unclosed parenthesis. xoxo)
Hey, if you’re thinking of getting some nifty Noise to Signal merchandise for holiday gift-giving – and who can fault your marvellous taste? – remember those shipping deadlines. Better order now!
And if you don’t find your favourite cartoon emblazoned on a coffee mug, printed on a greeting card or shaved into the belly of a raccoon (oh, wait – that one’s an invitation-only beta), just let me know and I’ll be happy to add it.
Ooh… this might be a nice one:
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Also, my page on TripAdvisor.
With this cartoon, Noise to Signal moves to its new home here at RobCottingham.ca. (Social Signal will continue carrying N2S, but the all-important RSS feed will point here.) We’ll be doing a few renovations in the coming months to make it cozy: a breakfast nook here, some sconces over there. And the posting frequency will probably pick up a little.
Comments are always welcome. Enjoy the toons!
There are organizations out there embracing social media with open arms, open hearts and open minds.
But others aren’t nearly as welcoming. And if you’re working for such an organization, you’ve probably felt a little like a space alien when you try to advance even the most modest of social media projects: “See, if we had a Twitter feed, then we could monitor customer service issues and resp-” “Twitter?! Why, it’s full of viruses, spam, pornography and Ashton Kutcher! Speak to me no more of this apostasy!” Which means you, my friend, are what I’ve come to call a stranded evangelist: a stranger in a strange land.
Chances are you spend your days banging your head against the brick wall of an organizational culture of fear, hierarchy and entrenched power, and your nights tweeting your frustration to friends living with the same pain.
There are ways of changing your stranded status: building trust and alliances within your organization, going for the smallest of small wins and expanding from there, gaining insight into your organization’s strategic goals so you can find both pain points and sweet spots where social media can help. But while you’re waiting for those efforts to take off, you can at least take some comfort in the knowledge that you have company.
So the next time you’re proposing a Facebook Page or a blogger outreach initiative, and getting the kind of reaction usually reserved for stories of alien abduction (or, worse, getting the same kind of probing often featured prominently in those stories), then just smile, nod, and remember:
We are not alone.
Oh! Oh! And Second Life’s point-click-and-buff-up feature!
