If you were wondering why I’ve been so quiet today (probably not, but I like to imagine I’m missed), it’s because I’ve been at the Innovation Edge conference organised by NESTA (a UK body that funds innovation).
A celebrity line-up included Bob Geldof (using technology to help developing countries), Tim Berners-Lee (general musings on the future of the web) and a surprise appearance from Prime Minister Gordon Brown himself. Indeed, a rather impressive performance from my namesake, flourishing anecdotes about Einstein and General Montgomery and somehow (I forget how) linking them to innovation.
(I’ll stop putting comments in parentheses now. Sorry.)
The main attraction for me was a session entitled ‘Are online social networks the new cities?’. Chaired by NESTA Fellow Charlie Leadbetter, the panel comprised Michael Birch, the CEO and founder of Bebo; Sir Richard Leese, the head of Manchester City Council; and John Gisby, director of new media and technology at Channel 4.
The talk covered the role of social networks in society, ranging from education to business. Leese argued the need for both organic and institutional innovation in social networks, saying that government must know when to step in with legislation, but also when to step out. He also admitted to lurking on certain networks to learn about sections of the community that, as a politician, he’d never normally get close access to. His council are experimenting with new web technologies. He cited a recent You Tube video manifesto as an example. “Few people watched it,” he confessed, “but it brought us much more media attention than a paper manifesto.”
Bringing the conversation round to the global versus local debate, the Chair asked British-born Michael Birch why he’d decided to set up Bebo in San Francisco rather than his home nation. “Because my wife lived there,” quipped Birch, “But they also happen to have a thriving internet community. It’s a good job she didn’t live in Utah.”
Birch discussed how he models Bebo on a city, drawing analogies with real-world communities and conversations in bars. “When we first set Bebo up, there was no growth for two months. It’s like being the first in the bar. No one wants to be in that bar until it gets a busier. But nucleuses began to appear. They told their friends, and they told their friends, and the site began to grow.” (I’m paraphrasing here, by the way, as I’ve never installed shorthand into my abilities folder.)
This rang true with what we’re seeing on Nature Network. The first few months were pretty slow, but nuclei are now appearing—that’s you guys—and the site is growing. We’ll shortly be launching new local hubs (I know, we’ve been saying this for months!), which we hope will act as regional nuclei.
Despite lots of to-ing and fro-ing, the titular question was never adequately answered, despite plenty of opinionated insight. One audience member compared the challenge to traditional media as “like the dissolution of the monasteries”, another claimed the new landscape lowered the barriers for both altruism and hatred. One chap bemoaned this excess of anecdote and called for more evidence-based debate when it comes to the development of social networking. And there were the usual concerns about the digital divide, and the health of a society that spends all available hours chatting on the web.
Online conversation and connection is indeed ubiquitous, as we found out at the end of the discussion. The Chair read a few snippets from Twitter, which audience members had written during the talking—”Michael looks bored”, “No way, he’s just relaxed”, etc. While discussion was taking place, a whole separate conversation about the discussion was happening that most of the audience were oblivious to. Now that’s what I call a digital divide.
I would have said less cities and more offices (and somewhat noisy ones at that) but I think the analogy is a good one. I have more contact with some people on the US west coast than with some down the corridor. And that is turning into real science and collaborations happening.
Yes, this whole meta conversation thing is quite striking to an old person like me, who has seen several waves of it come in. First personal stereos seemed to give people the ability to have two parallel existences simultanously. Then mobile phones, emails, mp3 players, etc. Office-wise one I don’t like is the common practice of attending a meeting and spending it dealing with messages on your Blackberry, but some people do it would you believe.
The Internet offers great options for sociability while one is interacting with other communities. I went through this with laptops, from having one computer in the house on which everyone took turns, to the situation where everyone has their own so we can all sit quietly round one table doing work, homework, being on
BeboFacebookNature Network, blogging, etc. Quite a fascinating set of changes, enabling people to “do their own thing” while together.People didn’t move to cities because they were so social and feeling lonely in the urban areas, but because of the infrastructure, and because cities allows a better division of labor. I find it kind of worrisome this trend to ‘forget’ how dependent we are on the ‘real world’ we live in. Virtual reality is all well and fine and allows us to connect to people far away, but a the importance of a functioning local community shouldn’t be underestimated.
I’m a nucleus? But I’m a chicken!
Maxine, I’ll believe anything about anyone with a Crackberry! I’ve given presentations to whole rooms full of sales reps who chose to ignore me entirely in favour of squinting at the tiny little screen.
I recently spent 10 minutes with a couple of friends passing a laptop from person to person so that we could take our turns on Scrabulous (internet scrabble via Facebook). Eventually we realised it might be easier to whip out an actual board and tiles.
Maxine, if you’re 150, then I’m … oooh … 146, and I enjoyed your reminiscence about waves of technology. I remember an occasion towards the end of the last century when the soon-to-be Mrs Gee and I were in the foyer of a large hotel, waiting to see the banqueting manager. (We were organizing our wedding reception, so this was sometime during the Eocene). We waited at a table in the hotel’s foyer cafe, and as we sat, it dawned on us that every single person at the cafe, other than us, was talking on a mobile phone.
This then reminded me of a cartoon (possibly from the New Yorker) in which the maitre d’ at a posh restaurant greets a couple of diners at the door. “Table for two? Certainly,” he says. “Phoning, or non-phoning?”
But that was then.
Office-wise one I don’t like is the common practice of attending a meeting and spending it dealing with messages on your Blackberry, but some people do it would you believe.
Mrs Gee, once a stranger to a blackberry, is a homeworker and does most of her work on one, and is in touch with her office when at home, or walking the dog, or shopping, or whatever. This increases her productivity by reducing stress and the time spent having to go elsewhere for physical meetings.
This suggests to me that internet communities aren’t like cities (and I agree with Sabine here). Rather, they are the antithesis of cities, allowing people to be together irrespective of physical location. I hope that this trend will, one day soon, explode myth that it’s somehow necessary for people to live in one place and work in another, and spend an inordinate amount of time and money commuting from one to the other. This idea still looks very persuasive to many people, especially in HR and senior management, but on the inside, it’s completely rotten.