the new raw materials and data chemistry

The new raw materials and data chemistry

Jaggeree/think/help/create/work

The new raw materialsand data chemistryChris Thorpe

HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/SUSANBRANDSTUDIO/

THERE!S

NO SUCH THING AS SOCIAL MEDIA



HTTP://WWW.SLIDESHARE.NET/KATYLINDEMANN/SOCIAL-MEDIA-09-DEMYSTIFYING-SOCIAL-MEDIA-2492522

Katy Lindemann said something interesting and totally true at Social Media 09, it was my favourite thing of the day



social media is made of people, not media

HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/MASHUPDIGITAL/

the thing we call social media is not really a media at all. it’s tools and protocols on the technology end and just people and behaviour on the human layer

what “media” there is in this space is in things which will act as gifts



it is about human interactions, mediated through technology

HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/JAGGEREE/

This image says a lot to me about how simple pieces of technology act as enablers or catalysts

Times Square was recently pedestrianised

No one knew what to do with it though before someone put some seats there

Technology facilitated human behaviour and interaction which would eventually have happened



HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/WALLYG/

One reason why we call things names like social media or give them short descriptions is because of a property of mass media

We’ve got used to short hand and labels



mass media and 20th century is all about making something easy to describe

HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/SCMILBLICK/

which we have to have as mass media makes us obsessed with making things easy to describe



it is about bandwidth scarcity and soundbites

HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/SCMILBLICK/

if you have a limited amount of time and bandwidth you need to make things easy to understand quickly

for a large part of the 20th century we had bandwidth scarcity, such as only 3 TV channels and so you had to reduce things to a minimum to get a message across



six blades are clearly better than five or god forbid four or three and well two blades or one, just forget it

you can’t explain really why your thing is better than another thing unless there is more of it, or it has a science bit with made up words



HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/ERICHARMATZ/

and we’ve plastering every space with messages hoping just one will catch the eye and stick for a large part of the last century

this is pretty similar to many websites we can all mention



crazy thinking like this

I don’t want to dominate conversations or for anyone to feel my Twitter Power

it’s just ridiculous



to me all these thoughts peaked about 1977, Morecambe and Wise Christmas Show. when there was bandwidth scarcity and attention abundance

and it all relates to one simple thing, which actually is in some ways wrong



something odd shaped which is constantly changing is hard to describe

HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/BALOULUMIX/

we tend to try describe complex things in very very simplistic ways

such as this is New York rather than trying to describe the buildings within the skyline



unless lots of people do it from individual points of view

HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/ALPHAUNDOMIKRON/

but we can describe them very accurately collectively from a wide variety of points of view, we can deconstruct them and reconstruct them



we are now living in an age of bandwidth abundance and attention scarcity

HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/FRANCESCOMINCIOTTI/

and we now have the ability to describe everything in intense detail and personally,

all we need to do is work out discovery mechanisms and pass on mechanisms




The Millenium Bridge

so for instance instead of just looking at this bridge and just saying it’s The Millenium Bridge




concrete pillar

steel cables

largely water

we could start looking at the components, and if enough people do it then we can build a really complex map of it and how we each individually and collectively like and dislike elements of it



our new tools, the elements of the data age allow us to collectively paint complex pictures

HTTP://RETAILTECH.BLOGS.COM/JIM/2008/06/A-POST-OF-A-POSTER-FOR-OBAMA.HTML

we have new and exciting tools which help lower the barriers to creating, curating, linking, sharing

we also have some new raw materials to make things with



so what are these new elements I’m talking about, we all remember this diagram from school




new materials have profound effects on society, cast iron and steel made New York a possibility




And reinforced concrete has given us new forms of architecture hithertoo impossible

HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/CHEMHERITAGE/



and new materials such as bakelite transformed the mass creation of household products

HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/45131642@N00/



plastic gave us lego and airfix (and I suppose a few more useful things)




new raw materials for new products and a new manufacturing industry

I think we have some new raw materials which will have a profound effect on the way we do business, the way we vote, the way we make products, the way we run charities, the way we are



“the datalide elements”

HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/FLAVIO_FERRARI/

they are elements of our world and reflections of our world and ourselves



HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/WISHYMOM/

one is identity, who we are



Id

Identium115

HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/WISHYMOM/

one is identity, who we are and it is through sites like Twitter and Facebook allowing your identity to move between places becoming powerful and pervasive



HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/JMCPHOTOS/

another is intent



It

Intentium116

HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/JMCPHOTOS/

saying what we are going to do, are doing, have done



HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/FRANCESCO/

our attention,



An

Attentium117

HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/FRANCESCO/

flocking like birds around the internet, sharing links and passing on information and giving promises of other people’s possible attention as a gift




our location



Lc

Locatium118


telling services, friends, family where we are



HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/MWBOECKMANN/

and our feelings



Se

Sentimentium119

HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/MWBOECKMANN/

our sentiment, how we feel personally, how we feel about things, people, content, places



HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/NIHONBUNKA/

and the data which we all produce almost constantly



Lo

Leftoverium120

HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/NIHONBUNKA/

the waste product of our digital connected lifestyle which is rich if we open it up and hunt for value within it



HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/PAUL_CLARKE/

so now we have these new things and we can almost see the dawn of a new era



HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/E01/

and by turning our organisations inside out and think of it as the people inside engaging directly with the people outside instead of through the small conduits of marketing, PR and customer services we can have a greater link with the people who buy our products and services



HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/CHIJS/

instead of running focus groups to answer questions we’ve thought of



Se119

It116

+

we can combine sentiment and intention to tell us all about what people think of us and what they’re likely to buy from us



like this plaything I made at The Guardian to analyse and facet all the twitter messages from The Future of Web Apps conference so we could see what people thought of us and my talk and also to look for where our message was wrong or where people wanted to reach out



HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/CAFEMAMA/

and instead of spending a lot of time trying to understand who your fans are and what they like through surveys

HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/CAFEMAMA/



Id115

An117

+

why not invite them to use their existing identities when they talk to you and engage on your site and then look for what they share with their friends



CAUTION: ugly prototype ahead

I’ve been playing with the backtweets API, looking at people who point at Guardian content



HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/BASHFORD/

and instead of trying to second guess where we might need to send supplies of products, such for example Tamiflu



HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/BASHFORD/

Lc118

Lo120

+

you could use left over data, like the information from searches on Google and the location of those people to predict areas where the drugs are likely to start to be needed



and Google have been making flu trends maps based on specific search terms



HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/ROOREYNOLDS/

location and sentiment is a good definition of protest

a place and a sentiment against something



HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/ROOREYNOLDS/

Lc118

Se119

+

which can be replicated online perfectly



as shown in the aftermath of Trafigura and Carter Ruck gagging The Guardian from talking about a question in parliament



HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/FOURWALKS/

and instead of trying to condense a whole story into a short video or programme



HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/FOURWALKS/

Lc118

Se119

+

we can combine location and sentiment to tell complex stories



like my recent walking trip to Austria which I turned into a fundraising exercise for the lovely Childs I who are making a wonderful transitional babies home in Africa a reality



I combined images and tweets



and my personal geography through an android app which sent my current location back to the site to tell the story of my walk

from: childsi@fourwalks raised £120 of target £500 as he completes first walk. Please support @jaggeree & @childsi http://www.justgiving.com/fourwalks/



which became bidirectional with people following me and the charity telling me how I was doing on fundraising

http://twitter.com/childsi

http://twitter.com/childsi

http://www.justgiving.com/fourwalks/






someone described it as a social media hike

it wasn’t a social media hike (and I’m not ragging on Dan Slee) I went on a walk and talked about it in real time

I could have documented it and told people about it when I got home, or phoned people. I was just walking



it’s not magic, it just shortens space and time

HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/CHRIS/

what was happening was a basic principle of this collection of tools, they shorten space and time

they’re not magical, they’re just human interaction at a different scale



HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/NEILJS/

these are not mechanisms of the 20th century mass media which is broadcast and outwards only with the return path disconnected



HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/CELPELLY/

they are more the mechanisms of the village, where there is a direct connection between makers, suppliers and consumers

however the internet and the technologies we now possess enable these new versions of old mechanisms at distance and scale never before acheived

the technologies we have enable us to communicate as we ever have, they change only one thing, they shorten time and space




all of the elements I’ve talked about before are ones which are tangible as data, I can find them, acquire them, buy access to them even... they all come from the outside, they are true raw materials

there’s one which is unpurchasable, but it is essential in this new world, made with new things



HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/JAMIN2/

and Paul Clarke has it



HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/BENWARD/

and James Darling



HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/JAMIN2/

and Emma Mulqueeny



HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/PAUL_CLARKE/

and Robert Brook




and Wilfred Cass



HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/CHILDSI/

and Lucy Buck of Childs I

HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/CHILDSI/



Ac

Authenticium121

this magical element authenticity and for me the only real way to convey this in images is to talk about it as a human thing and point at some people I feel are inspirational to me and authentic.

it is so key and it is why the social web, social software, real-time media, participatory culture, the network society call it what you like is changing how people buy things and find services and recommend them to people

HTTP://FASTERFUTURE.BLOGSPOT.COM/



and this lack of authenticity is why people are switching away from traditional advertising and listening to friends recommendations again

no one is looking at this billboard, no matter how racy the image or how startling it is to see OMFG on the side of a building




this is an advert for Virgin Health clubs I found in Holborn Tube station, I love the commentary on the lack of authenticity




and there was even all you’d find in any discussion forum going on in real life on the poster

this is authentic and real and it’s wonderful that it’s on something totally fake

HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/JIMMEDIAART/



there is one final thing I wanted to say about these materials

inventors and garden sheds have a long history

the difference between these new materials and many other new materials from the past is all you need is the digital and physical equivalent of the garden shed to make new things at a really large scale



HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/FLAVIO_FERRARI/

Chris Thorpe@jaggeree