I was chatting with friend yesterday and during the chat I asked him if I could send him an invite to join Twitter. Below is an edited version of our conversation.
I am greatful for his questioning my enthusiasm about Twitter. Often I make gut decisions about things (thanks Malcolm Gladwell for endorsing the rightness of that lol) but until someone questions it, I fail to make the idea explicit. It remains inarticulated. My friend Joe provided me with an opportunity to really define what I like about Twitter and what I see as the potential residing within it.
Several years ago I came across the notion of Bio-teams I think I may have seen it referenced on Kolabora. Anyway, the basic premise and rule number one is - Broadcast Everything. I liked this right away. No buy-in time required for me at all. It made sense, maybe because I had just read Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities and Software by Steven Johnson.
I'm still drawn to the idea of communicating more openly because it allows for the personal aggregation of knowledge. As Surowiecki points out in Wisdom of Crowds, large non-homogenous groups, acting independently, gathering information from a wide variety of sources, make the best decisions. Better than experts, better than individuals alone.
K, that's it for now but I'll definately come back to this idea again, if for no other reason than to try and clarify it more to myself. And thanks Joe, awesome chat as always.. You make me think and I like that!
Jamie says:
I'm also on Twitter.. mind if i send you an invite to join that?
Joe says:
go ahead
Joe says:
whats twitter?
Jamie says:
Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?
Joe says:
lol
Jamie says:
it pretty cool.. cos you can update it via cell phone text message
Jamie says:
i'm going to use it more for work.. professional contacts than social.. but its a cool little application
Joe says:
no cell phone
Jamie says:
geez.. no cell phone lol
Joe says:
i knew a girl who changed her facebook status every 5 minutyes from her cell
Jamie says:
i don't have a landline.. only 2 cells.. one work one personal
Jamie says:
same idea, only simpler
Jamie says:
whats cool is you can follow people
Joe says:
it said "Jenn is getting ready for work" "jenn is leaving the house" "jenn is headed to work" " Jenn is getting a coffee" "Jenn is enjoying her coffee" and so on and so on.
Jamie says:
i follow a couple of my profs and people really active in the world i work in
Joe says:
here's a question... why?
Jamie says:
connections
Jamie says:
like i say.. i can use it for work.. say i'm having a really challenging issue at work.. i can, really quickly post a .. does any one know how to .. type message
Jamie says:
and maybe get responses from people who are following me
Jamie says:
on twitter you are limited to 140 characters so no way that anyone can plug up your inbox or cell phone with too many long messages
Joe says:
i see
Jamie says:
i also use it to keep on top of what my ex profs are reading, researching, teaching about
Jamie says:
its kinda based on an organic communication model... bees, ants.. they broadcast everything.. the idea is that if people do the same they can be more informed without haveing to necissarily do more work.. ya get it
Joe says:
ya... makes me more enthusiastic about building a log cabin in the middle of the woods
Jamie says:
lol
Joe says:
and taking nothing but my fly rod
Jamie says:
k.. the irony.. i'm talking about being more organic.. being like bees and ants.. and your seeing it as the opposite.. that is interesting lol
Joe says:
and before i go i'll call my friends on the "telephone" and say "Hey... i'll be gone fishin all weekend.... talk to ya next week."
Jamie says:
animals.. nature.. intuitively.. innately follow a path of interconnectedness
Joe says:
flower it up any way you like.
Joe says:
lol
Jamie says:
people do the opposite.. seek to be disconnected
Joe says:
ya but bees are all together in one hive and they comunicate through dance patterns
Jamie says:
and then wonder why their lives don't work lol
Jamie says:
they twitter lol
Joe says:
gotcha
Jamie says:
and we all live together in one big hive too.. if more people got that idea we wouldn't be worried about global warnming
Jamie says:
cos we would all be taking better care of "our" hive
Jamie says:
geez!
Joe says:
oh my
Joe says:
i hope i didnt offend you
Joe says:
lol
Joe says:
it just sounds very busy
Jamie says:
no, not offended.. just frustrated...
Joe says:
every time i run into a problem where i need advice I plug it into a cell phone and wait to hear back from several people
Jamie says:
broadcast it once.. if you have the right loose ties, the problem will be solved with help
Jamie says:
it makes a huge difference when you are solving problems that can impact a persons life or health
Jamie says:
doctors and health professional use this kind of system all the time now.. same with police, cia, fbi etc
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