Connected

I had a discussion with a friend of mine.

 She said she doesn’t understand my motives and my agenda of writing my blogs. She said she doesn’t understand what’s funny in My Let Go (celebrating a year today, by the way) and what do I want to show about myself in my other blogs, as a blogger (and these are not all of my blogs). For me, her punch line about me was that for someone who doesn’t know me, I have some posts where I look as someone who knows very little about a lot of things and in other words, who is this guy, he’s not serious,
but, she said, she knows me and know it’s not so. (Some of you may look at it as a weak point that I show you, some of you may see it as a strength point). Alright.

It got me thinking.

As blogging for me began in August 2003, I have learned a thing or two about how people evolved as users who share their lives on blogs, on IMs, on videos and on other viral social environments. As I am a people’s person by nature and a sociologist by education (cannot separate it from the rest of my identity,
i don't want to either) I was naturally drawn to realize for myself what it means to have a blog, to have an IM, to post personal video logs on a blog and to see where this Facebook revolution goes as the social creatures that we are all.

Not personal is not interesting.

This is something that I realized for myself over the years as a personal preference. Speak about anything, but if you’re a blogger- give a personal flavor to your post, or else you lose me. You don’t have to agree with me on that, but see what makes you let go of blogs and bloggers, could it be the lack of it?
It can be history, it can be physics, I don’t care, but put your ass on the line. Writing in third body is for wimps (not in all cases, but you got my point).

Positioning.

My friend asked me where and how I want to position myself. Her question was intelligent. First thing pro bloggers will teach you in blogging 101 is that before you open a blog you have to think what it is going to be about. That’s what will attract the readers, that’s what will bring them back with every new post, and in essence, that is what will bring order to you writings.

True. Unless you don’t want to follow the “rules” and if you believe your blogs are your own to do whatever
you want with. For me, I’m not talking about chaos, I’m talking about balance.   Get the balance between your personal preferences and the “rules” of writing.

Personally.

Personally, I’m in a unique situation as I'm writing, shooting photos and making videos.
I started as an anonymous blogger, became a photojournalist known by real name, continued exploring the blogosphere with different blogs that gave me more hats to wear in social occasions and now, not only that I have all these, people who are my Facebook friends get my daily feeds of what I do and what I write. Moreover, one of the first things you learn as a private personal  blogger is that you can't  satisfy everyone with you writings. Even more, once you are courageous enough to reveal your guts, i.e what you really think or feel, then comes those milestone posts where you are honored upon by others. It’s something you have got to go through to realize for yourself, it’s a journey you got to go alone, letting go of what others are thinking about you, That is power, that is freedom.

Spotlight.

In a situation like my own (it may be a unique story but I doubt I’m special in this) many people (I try to know most of my Facebook friends personally) are always up to date with what’s happening with me. I get to situations where I introduce myself by name and people say (and I’m not kidding): “Oh, so you’re Niv Calderon, I heard so many people talk about you, I read you on Facebook all the time”, and I tell you this not to glorify my name (it bores me to death when people do it) but to clarify my point- when you put yourself in front of people daily, you choose to let go of some of your privacy, and you choose to give people the opportunity to think about you different thoughts. They can be positive, they can be negative. Most of the time they are positive because people love information, and if it’s in three dimensions (photos, videos
and text) it’s even better.

As a blogger, you open yourself to many possibilities and opportunities unavailable otherwise and that’s what I like.
Also, since I’m blogging and using social utilities, so many big and wonderful things happened in my life, why would I want that to stop them from happening, “it’s like a box of chocolates, you never know what you might get”.

Sharing.

It’s all about sharing. It’s about being open. When you’re open THINGS COME. When you share, your ideas and thoughts are being donated to the community for the rest to use as they please. Sharing makes me grow. You’ll never know till you try.

Last night I went to participate in the Rock Band party of the Garage Geeks. The Garage Geeks events' atmosphere is of social and of business networking. A place where you can meet people you've read about on the internet-business parts in the news papers and in the big sites on the web. It’s an atmosphere where it is fun to meet, great to collect ideas and to get to know people. i'll get back to that later.The last game I seriously spent my time playing was called "Sim City 2000", and it was back in the 90’s. I used to play for hours a day, full days, and I remember once I had nothing else to achieve in a city I built, it was all made of the mega ultra buildings of the 23rd century (with time fast forwarded). I called this city :"The Enterprise". since than I stopped playing games in general, 10-12 years ago.

Now, Guitar Hero and Rock Band are great games to play, alone and togater, but there are few things about them that are counter productive socially, and remember, I'm talking about a party and about a networking event-
First of all, when you're playing Rock Band you need to concentrate, there are rules you need to follow, as in every game. The game makes the player play for the total score of the team, but really, who cares about the score, the most important thing for you is to finish the song. So, it’s not really about being social, it’s about doing the best you can, and handling the hand and eye coordination obviously (except for the singer, of course).
Second, when you're in a party where some of the people are playing computer games and some of the people are eating/talking/dancing than there are two groups in one place that do not communicate.

Few weeks ago I went to another party by FunTactix. About 8-9 people played games all night on the computers there and there were about 30-35 people, maybe less. how much is that in percentages and how do you think 8-9 more people could have donated to the atmosphere of the party???

Third- last night they had 2 sets of Rock Band and one set of Guitar Hero. Guitar Hero is anti social in definition. You might have some fun playing it and becoming better, but giving it in a party where other people are involved is like standing in the corner of the class, as a punishment, where no one can speak with you for the time spent, and if you're standing on the side and want to play, wait in line.

So of course, nothing there was even like punishment, I myself tried to sing Roxanne for 3 times with guys i've never seen or talked before, but really, I think attractions in partties are great, but video games, even when they are meant as a group game (wii included) have anti social elements in them that made me think about all of that last night.

For conclusion, games for me, when I was a teen, were a way to spend my time, they were a way to explore this new thing called computer, there was nothing social about them, nothing. Games for me were something I do with myself, having fun, alone.
Even today, if I play a game with other people, how much of it is really about provoking the interaction afterwards? What interaction will be left after the game is over, after elvis has left the building?

a photo I took of a group of people playing Rock Band at the Garage Geeks party

Last, but not least, my own version of Creep, originaly by Radiohead, with my friends: Oded, Hagai, Roxi and lotem at the camera (creep)
@http://youtube.com/watch?v=wUeGq3vNMnU

I went to the Pulver Breakfast this morning in Aroma in the Tel Aviv Port, and although I was there at ten to nine, people were already there, getting their names on tags, already doing live pokes and mingling. I love it when people show up in time.
I think the atmosphere is was great.
Personally, I knew many people there, whom I really enjoy meeting at events like this and getting live updates, which are almost like Facebook updates, but with faces and smiles attached to them. But also, I made it my business to meet and talk to new people and to familiarize myself with what’s going on with them and with their businesses, cause you never know when and where you’ll need this information, so when you make it your business to know about people, whatever they tell you is extremely interesting and your mind (my mind) is getting busy in building puzzles (personal, professional and in general), so I had fun.
Also, in my talks I got exposed to several interesting projects in the social media domain (blogs), in the educational domain (camp) and in the music advertising domain (games). I found them tasteful.
About the live social networking event- it’s a great project that Jeff is doing where he’s travelling; we can and need to learn few things about how to do it and how to create the atmosphere, so:
a- Name tags, personal taglines and “live status notes” are the ice breakers for people to interact. It’s a must.
b- We can make these events more frequently and I think there’s a demand for it as well. Local events like iDrink are perfect, but
1- no need to bring startups to talk in front of the crowd, and
2- they have grown enormously fast and suddenly it became too big and highly crowded. The event today was with about 70-100 people in an open outdoor space and was perfect.
c- It works when people bring their still and video cameras. It makes the event go beyond itself into the virtual.

1- Today and yesterday I read a lot about and from Technorati. I read many many posts they posted in their not-so-friendly blog (interface like) and have read blog posts about them. I've been trying to understand what drives them. Never mind that, I found a phrase I didnt stop thinking about and I think i'm gonna post something on it as soon as mind mind is set. They call it the World Live Web, that unlike the World Wide Web, it’s only about blogs, tags and other social medias.

One of my first thought about that was the difference between a "world-wide" web and a world "live-web". I'm talking about the linguistic side here. The "Wide" is telling us how big the world of web is, whereas the "Live" is talking about the web and its essence.

But that was just a thought I had. Live Web means "everything that is social" and it’s interesting that Technorati is calling bloggers and other online-social-media-user-generated-content creator by the name Citizens.

2- lately i've been using GlobalPandora, the "open to all" social music website for hours every day. The music there is great, but all in all, the service is unreliable- it gets stuck, it doesnt upload or just stops, sometimes for days. I now try LastFM for the first time. It is reliable, but the quality of the music given to me isn't high, and I'm not talking about the volume level but the coices the system does.

3- I started watching "Prison Break". A fun show, though I wouldnt lose sleep if I dont see it ever again.

4- Last week I told my friends on Facebook I'm going to an Ice cream party in the Iceberg. here’s the video from there if you have'nt seen it yet, was a joy-

@http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFXzmf4zPlw
video from youtube

5- a night before that I went to an opening in a gallery in Neve Tzedek, I didnt like it at all. the artist took characters from television (Homer Simpson, Wonder Woman), from the fashion world (Bar Refaeli), from the cartoons world (Disney’s Goofy) and some other brands (M&M). For me as a photographer and an artist I thought it was insulting, and I didnt find anything new in her art, all she did was to reproduce others' works and add them Swarovski Crystals.

This is what I felt:

@http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqEeeOZACOI
video from youtube

האישי הוא הפוליטי, חשבתי לעצמי עכשיו תוך כדי שטיפת הכלים במטבח שלי.
המצב שבו אנשים יוצרים איתי קשר ואומרים לי שהם עוקבים אחרי חיי באדיקות כבר מספר חודשים בפייסבוק, או אומרים לי שהם "כבר לא מצליחים לעקוב" אחרי כל עדכוני הסטטוס שלי או הרשומות שאני כותב שם או אחרי כל התמונות שאני מעלה… חלקם משדרים לי הנאה ופירגון, חלקם משדרים לי עייפות או ויתור מראש על המעקב שפייסבוק מאפשר. אני חושב על כיוון אחר- סוג אחר של רטט בכל הנוגע לחיים באינטרנט (ולמה בכלל צריך "להצליח" לעקוב אחרי מישהו?!).

"האישי הוא הפוליטי" הוא מושג שלמדתי באוניברסיטה כשלמדתי על פמיניזמים שונים (פמיניזמים = פמיניזם ברבים) בלימודי המגדר שלי. המושג בא לתאר את המצב שבו אישה חשה שמה שקורה לה בחייה, בביתה או במרחב הציבורי הוא חוויה פרטית שלה, ובנוסף, הוא בא שחוויותיה של אישה אינן פרטיות אלא נחלתן של נשים רבות, ושעל נשים לדעת שהחוויות שהן חוות נחוות לרוב גם על ידי הכלל (הנשי).

אני מקדיש הרבה מאד שעות מחשבה ביום להתעסקות בהשלכות המדיה החברתית על חיינו. אני לא עושה את זה במכוון, ולמעשה זה קורה לי תוך כדי שאני מתעסק בדברים אחרים חוץ מאשר במחשב.

כשמפתחים שרירים הם טופחים ומתחזקים כשאנחנו במנוחה. כשאני במנוחה באות לי המחשבות על כך, בין אם אני שוטף כלים, מתקלח, נוהג או מדבר בטלפון.

אין לי ספק שעוד לא התחלנו לגרד את קצה ההבנה של איך מדיה חברתית משפיעה על חיינו. הכיוון הראשוני בו אני חשבתי הוא תחום הפרסום. אנשי פירסום כיום באים לרוב מתחום המדיות המסורתיות יותר ואולי משיגים את המידע שלהם ברשת, אבל רמת ההבנה שלהם ביכולות ההפצה עדיין מוגבלות. איך אני קובע עובדה כזו? כי החיים שלנו ברשת עדיין נקיים למדי באופן יחסי, בערך כמו רמת זיהום האוויר ממכוניות בישראל בשנות החמישים. תחומים נוספים למשל הם: המעגלים החברתיים של כל אחד ואחד מאיתנו, הבחירות הבאות עלינו לטובה (אפליקציית התפקדות למפלגות, פוק לח"כים), קבוצות לימודים ובאופן כללי כל נושא של העברת מסרים או קידום תחום שהוא.

בכל אופן, קשה לי להאמין שמה שאני חווה הוא חוויה שייחודית לי. קשה לי להאמין שאני עומד במרכז ההתעסקות של רבים כל כך במשך כל כך הרבה פעמים רק כי אני מעדכן את הפייסבוק שלי כל כך הרבה פעמים. אני בכלל לא חושב שאני מיוחד אם כי ידועה לי הייחודיות שלי בכל הנוגע לכמות הזמן שאני "משקיע" (יחסית לחברים שלי) ולתוצרים שאני משתף את הסביבה שלי- תמונות שלי ושל אחרים (כי אני צלם), רשומות (כי אני בלוגר) ועידכוני סטטוס (כי זה משפיע על החיים שלי בצורה יוצאת דופן ועוד ראוי שתיכתב על זה רשומה).

למרות כל אלה, אני לא מאמין שאני ייחודי. לכל היותר אני יכול ומוכן להסכים שהתרומה האישית שלי ל"שיח הציבורי" (הפייסבוקי) היא רבה, אבל ראשית, יש אנשים עם מעגל חברים גדול יותר משלי ויש אנשים שתורמים ל"שיח הציבורי" כמוני- אם לא ברשומות ובתמונות אז בשימוש באפליקציות (דבר שאני ממעט בו באופן קיצוני, בסך הכל 11 אפליקציות כולל הכל).

כמה מחשבות לסיום.
לדעתי, מסה סוציולוגית של בנאדם ברשת נמדדת על ידי היכולת שלו להניע בני אדם לפעולה (כל פעולה, החל מתגובה לפוסט, תיוג תמונה או כל דבר אחר). שנית, אני חושב שאי אפשר להפריד בין עיסוקו של אדם והנגישות שלו למחשב לבין התפוקה שהוא מייצר ברשת וההשפעה על חייו. זאת ועוד, הרקע והעניין של הבנאדם בתחום בו הוא מתעסק, גם הם פקטור חשוב בקביעת התפוקה והתרומה ל"שיח הציבורי" ברשתות חברתיות ולבסוף- הרצון של היחיד לתרום ממחשבותיו ומרצו לכלל.

Last night I went out to a club and realized there are many people with pocket cameras shooting their friends, posing to the camera.

This era, with Israel somewhere at the top in social media penetration in comparison to other countries, when, I guess, one in three or four are Facebook users, and more are Flickr users, I realized that social media donates to the camera industry even more than the camera companies help themselves. It must be true to Flickr- but my guess is that it’s true also to Facebook.

Something more- the penetration of social media to our lives has changed something we all thought before- if once we met a person on the internet and went to meet him in reality, now we also meet people in reality, only to continue the relationship on the internet- virtual reality.

How did I come to that- from the cameras, they capture moments in reality time and with one’s help, the photos are "publi-shared" on the web.

So- cameras help people take relations fron reality to virtual reality. Social media help cameras sales go up.
more camera- more social users of online networks- more meetings in real life.

Question rises: Isn't it time to stop calling virtual reality a lesser reality and start treating it as the extention, and also, in the same time- the begining of reality?