A bum in a Google cap. Now there's a sign of the times, I think as he shambles toward me. He looks pretty much like any other tattered street person in San Francisco - long, windblown dirty-blond hair with a beard to match. Unbuttoned shirttails flapping in the afternoon breeze. - "Robot Wisdom on the Street", Wired, July 2005
(Hmmm, I own a Google cap too. I think they were giving them out at Gnomedex.) As a point-counterpoint to my own "For Every Lynch Mob, There are a Hundred Moais" I've also wondered if perhaps the blogosphere is really a desolate barrio. If you're not writing about Google Base or whatever is hot news du jour, heck du instant, you're relegated to the back bins of the Technorati 20,000.
When attention is scarce, and relevance fleeting, well then Katrina is just so last month. I am notorious for skimming sites and blogs at lightspeed. I can crank through six business books in three hours. And yet I slowed way down to savor this, this, and only this in the past few days. Another hundred posts a blur.
On his panhandler sign, Barger had written:
Coined the term 'weblog,' never made a dime. - Wired, July 2005
I suppose Mr. Barger never figured out how to monetize his blog. In a healthy debate over whether Flickr should pay its users (no doubt spurred on by this post) over at Robert Scoble's blog, Jake writes:
I have nothing against making money, but I’ll side with Caterina - sometimes money is not the only motivator for participation. Unless you bring money into the equation. Then you will quickly find that it is the leading motivator.
Monetize your blog and you yet may find yourself poor.
I find the rich much poorer. Sometimes they are more lonely inside. They are never satisfied. They always need something more. I don't say all of them are like that. Everybody is not the same. I find that poverty hard to remove. The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread. - Mother Teresa
When I had nada (barely survived dot-com bust) did I realize how much I truly had. The only way to witness the power of moais online? Be real. Put your whole self out there. If Jorn Barger had reached out perhaps he would realize he wasn't alone. That this is a social media. And.
We are not alone.
As BlogHers say, be naked (btw, the naked theme hits SXSW). That's the only way Heather Armstrong realized she had a support network when she blogged her post-partum depression. Or I witnessed an outpouring of compassion from folks worldwide post-tsunami. Or Steve Rubel is finding with his open admission of cancer. As I said: "Generosity, graciousness, love, compassion happen from one single person to another person gazing at you eye to eye - rarely via broadcast." (Face to face is most powerful, but it does work person to person in any medium.)
Within the past day, I've had an amazing wellspring of support. Gracias amigos for underscoring the blogosphere is far from a lonely barrio: Shel, Jill, Stowe, Elisa, Rick, Keith, Chris, Tom, Tom, Francois, Niti, and the guys at WordofBlog.
When two people relate to each other authentically and humanly,
God is the electricity that surges between them. - Martin Buber
flickr photo by k-girl | tags social media word of mouth wom customer evangelism citizen marketing authenticity spirituality blogging
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