"there's a wall around us we are heady, we are groundless & we burn our friends & kill their names build insecure & petty fames & tattoo things that we believe skulls & bones & hearts in half-sleeves"
That stanza came to mind, especially the line about insecure and petty fames - which was more an indictment of live journal and blogs circa 2002 - but things have changed since then, even with Julia Allison and her personality cult all sound and fury signifying nothing. Twitter isn't about instantiating new abstractions of self - splintered personalities that bear little if any resemblance to the originating consciousness. I had argued elsewhere that the phenomenon of multiple personalities, along with Pierre Klossowski's notion of demonic position, gives us a better paradigma for a concept of pre-Simulationist subjectivity than anything we can get from psychoanalysis. You cannot be one without being at least two. We are all at least potentially multiple, even if most of us do not suffer from the oppressive consciousness of being so. This was made easier with social media sites, where I could manufacture a persona and within reason, keep it relatively coherent and separate from my meat-space self. This shattering, though, meant a form of schizophrenia which, long term, is very difficult to maintain. Twitter changes that because authentic personality naturally seems to accrete onto the screen into the 'verse and over time a real pattern emerges - one much closer to one's true self. This is both kewl and a bit scary - especially for someone who values their privacy and anonimity, but I digress... Back to *Twitter and Trust and Tribes* - from Seth Godin's new book, "Tribes" "most people who use twitter don't get it. It seems invasive or time consuming or even dumb...the converts, though, understand the true power of twitter... ....Over time, twit by twit, Laura has built trust, which has led to a successful career as a consultant and a worldwide speaking practice. She's met fascinating people and changed the way her tribes sees the world. She now has true fans, people who seek her out and talk about her." "Laura couldn't have done this with one speech or one blog post...but by consistently touching a tribe of people with generosity and insight, she's earned the right to lead." "Personally, I can't imagine the technology mattering much. Blogs and twitter and all manner of other tools will come and go, possibly by the time you read this. The tactics are irrelevant, and the technology will always be changing. The essential lesson is that every day it gets easier to tighten the relationship you have with the people who choose to follow you." And that, my friends, is a pretty descent argument re:twitter. -- ~ will "Where you innovate, how you innovate, and what you innovate are design problems" --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Will Evans | User Experience Architect [EMAIL PROTECTED] aim: semanticwill gtalk: semanticwill twitter: semanticwill --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
