Conferences: Random Thoughts
OK, so this post was actually written in March 2007. Strangely, I never hit the “Publish” button and it wasn’t until I noticed it when I cleaned out my blog drafts that I discovered the error. It has some relevant info, so even though it’s a bit dated, I figured I’d post anyway. Hope you don’t mind.
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I’m finally unpacking my bags from that last 1.5 weeks of travel and working on going through my notes. Here’s a few things I took note of while I was on the road:
SMS is the new old. Or old new. Or the new big small.
You know how you can buy a child a brilliant, expensive, much desired toy only to have them play with the cardboard box all day? That’s how I feel about text messaging. We industry folks have these brilliant smart phones that allow rich media communication of all sorts. Yet SMS text messages seemed to rule the day. And even after the conferences, I find that people I connected with have more interest in sending me an SMS than an email. It’s like it’s more personal than an email, yet not as intrusive as a phone call.
I probably sent more SMS in the last week than all total before… which was helped by my acquisition of a phone with a thumb keyboard. Speaking of which…
Blackjack = The Social Media Phone.
Everywhere I turned for the last week, people have had the Blackjack. Who needs the iPhone when everyone I know is using the Blackjack??
Uh, yeah, old post. Apparently *I* need the iPhone and my wife needs the Blackjack. Well, not so much need as forced as a replacement for her years old flip phone.
Mortal Danger vs. Fulfilling Potential
One of the SXSW sessions about kids online had a great slide up while they talked that said (paraphrasing):
Young people are…
- …in constant mortal danger
- …fulfilling their inner potential
In some ways this really is a A vs. B point, not a A & B point. The reality of how many kids are truly facing mortal danger online is far overblown. But true or not, there’s a recurring theme that kids (and their parents) are having to make decisions as to whether to expand their minds or create walls for protection.
Whatever the right way to think about it, I think it’s a good way to describe how many of the non-digital parents and marketers are thinking about things today.
Related to this discussion, one point that came up a number of times is that cyber-bullying is a far bigger issue than pedophiles. Of course many people feel that one online pedophile is as big of an issue as thousands of serious cyber-bullying issues. Just like drunk driving kills vastly more people than many diseases that get far more attention.
“Wikis scare the hell out of teachers”
This was a really interesting quote from the 18 and under SXSW panel. The core point was that instead of individual assessment, which is relatively easy for teachers to manage, the concept (and spirit) of wikis and wiki culture is that students are suddenly “contributing to the real work of the world”. As Anastasia points out in her book, the idea that kids are delicate flowers that should be sheltered from the “real work of the world” is a relatively new invention. In centuries past, kids and teens have played a huge role in the evolution of society and culture.
The idea that a kid may be failing his assignments, yet contributing incredible articles to Wikipedia or code to Firefox… how do you now measure true potential?
Random Quotes
- “We’ve moved from a Digital Divide to a Participatory Divide” – Danah Boyd
