by Kathryn on November 16, 2009
The digital world is increasingly allowing us to only be exposed to the thoughts and ideas that we like or agree with.
I can’t stop thinking about Jonathon Harris.
His latest project World Building in a Crazy World is based on a series of 15 vignettes about the reality of life in a digital world. Its beautiful, simple and intriguing thoughts and ways of understanding, although not new, are welcome reminders.
I have been reading about homogenization: to make equal, uniform, corresponding, or matching. It’s an idea that permeates all discussions surrounding culture, always has and always will. The process of homogenization is sometimes referred to as the McWorld or the McDonaldization of culture that promises to bind us together through consumption of so-called “cultural” commodities.
Should we think digital culture would be any different? If content is created simply with the intent of responding to and re-hashing similar and popular ideas with the goal of attracting page views, why would we think we have access to a broad range of new ideas, theories and thought?
The digital world provides the opportunity to have access to “everything” at anytime. All the information we could ever hope for is at out fingertips. But is it?
Maria Popova tells us that “the smart and systematic culling of off-mainstream interestingness” is the method to counter this imbalance.
Harris talks about this in Our Digital Crisis.
“Most online experiences are made, like fast food, to be cheap, easy, and addictive: appealing to our hunger for connection but rarely serving up nourishment. Shrink-wrapped junk food experiences are handed to us for free by social media companies, and we swallow them up eagerly, like kids given buckets of candy with ads on all the wrappers.”
And as humans we will still tend to act in very human ways.
Have you read Jonathan Harris lately?
In Part 2 I give an example of what I found while doing a little curating for off-mainstream interestingness of my own.
by Kathryn on November 8, 2009
I woke up to a sunshine-filled, blue sky, very chilly kind of morning. Immediately it took me back to memories of being in the north, in the bush, in camp. I ran downstairs and threw the ingredients into the bread maker to make bread dough.
I’ve spent a lot of time in the north living and working in exploration camps. I’ve worked as a cook, OHS Officer, Logistics Coordinator and Medic.
These camps are set up in the middle of the bush as places to house those working in the exploration industry. Location is specific to findings for whatever mineral the company is searching and/or drilling for. Camps are made up of Geologists, Administration Staff, Camp workers, a Medic, and Drillers. It’s a collection of local and far-flung people dropped off by helicopter to work in an isolated area for extended periods of time.
It is challenging and exciting and definitely not for everyone! I’ve had the pleasure of working in Northern Labrador, Northern Saskatchewan, Nunavut and Baffin Island.
My favorite camps are constructed with Quonset Huts, military style buildings, which are insolated tents set up on a wooden platform. Inside the tent there is a small diesel stove and usually 2 – 4 cots. Close quarters indeed.
Camp in the winter is awesome! The bush in the winter turns into one glorious snow-covered expanse. Areas that could not be travelled in the other seasons freeze and everywhere is open to explore. Snowshoeing and snowmobiling are my favorite ways to explore.
This morning I was immediately taken back to the feeling of waking up to see your breath inside the tent. It was necessary to place the next day’s clothes in the bottom of your sleeping bag at night so you could get them on in the morning. Wriggling around, getting dressed and then stepping out to find your boots frozen to the floor was common.
Another really good thing about camp is the kitchen tent. On a cold morning like this, heading to the kitchen tent was the BEST. Inside there would be a stove just a pumping heat and a huge breakfast to share with everyone in camp.
Being in camp was some of the best times I’ve ever experienced. Also some of the toughest. I learned about myself and the challenges I could face. I learned a lot about living and working with others. I learned to be patient. I learned how to think and I learned the things we think we can control are often not in our hands.
Friends will say I look the happiest they have ever seen me in my pictures from there.
I also learned about the power of food. Not just for sustenance, but the power it has to bring people together to learn and share and build a community from a group of strangers. Eating all your meals with 30 others from varying walks of life forces you to be mindful and engage with people you may never have had the chance to meet in any other circumstance. Food provides the conduit that can increase your knowledge of others. The simple act of sharing a meal can provide an opportunity to learn so much about others.
It was in one of these camps in Northern Labrador that I first discovered Toutons. Toutons are raw bread dough that has risen once and is then fried in oil to golden perfection. Covered in butter, molasses or maple syrup they are one of the best simple treats I’ve ever tasted.
I’m nowhere near the north right now but I am missing it quite completely. As I sit now I can hear the bread maker whirring. Toutons will be ready to cook in 2 hours. I can’t be there physically right now, but I can experience a little something about it right here.
Food and memories go hand-in-hand.
What food takes you back to a place you haven’t been in a long time?
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by Kathryn on November 3, 2009
Thought I’d just give a glimpse into what I’ve been up to lately. I recently had the challenge and pleasure of participating in a companies foray into the world of Social Media. It was a great experience for me as well as a paying job, which is always nice to have these days!
I was given the title Community Advocate that came with responsibilities very similar to what is discussed here in this post about Community Management.
It’s very interesting when working with a company who has not used a Social Media strategy before. It’s a big leap of faith for them to say, “Here is my business, now please go represent me on the internet.”
It takes a huge amount of trust for this to work. All the potential client really has to base decisions on is case studies on what has worked for other businesses and your word that you know what you’re doing.
In this case the company had a website where they were successfully selling a product to a very loyal following. This company also had a very active presence on a few online forums where they were managing their brand, answering questions about their products and relaying new product information.
It was not difficult to attract followers. This company thrived on excellent customer service and had ardent, loyal customers. We started a Facebook fan page for them and engagement there was a success. We ran a contest and not only was it fun, we had a lot of participants. All was going well.
Bi-weekly reporting showed a slow steady increase in our numbers. By all measures our engagement on social platforms was a success, BUT, it didn’t turn into more visits to their site and, in turn, did not turn into more sales. My attempts at strategy — and I came up with excellent ideas, I might add — weren’t accepted because they were new and scary and involved more trust in engagement with the online world.
What I learned from this experience is:
- It is necessary for the company/brand you are representing to have clearly defined goals
- It is important and paramount to the success of your project that the people you are working for understand the time necessary to grow a community, instill trust and engage
- A monthly examination of those goals to see if they are still applicable is a must
- Clear definitions of what measurement tools you are using and what those numbers actually mean, and what those numbers can result in must be explained
- Policies stating what constitute an emergency and how that will be handled (for example, customer complaints, bad “press”) must be put in place. The Community Manager’s role must not be over-ridden if something like this occurs – everyone must share information and work together
- There needs to be clearly defined roles and chain of “command” in terms of who speaks through what channels and when. It’s no fun to sign on and discover *someone* who you work for has been tweeting away in your absence, without your knowledge. It confuses people
After a few months, they gave up their online presence and stuck with the way things were before. This company was comfortable in their tradition and that comfort, coupled with economic influences, determined the Community Advocate role was not necessary. They wanted to see more direct visits to their site, which in turn they hoped would result in more sales.
Was this a failure? No.
I learned a lot from this challenge, the company became educated in using Social Media to attract, engage, respond and reward customers. And customers, in turn, gained insight into a company that cared enough to try.
