GeekDad

So far, so good. Technically, I missed a day, but I posted twice the previous day, so I’m still on track for 1000 posts in 1000 days. Plus, I haven’t counted the few articles I wrote for Wired‘s GeekDad blog:

• Girls Benefit from Video Game Co-Play—Researchers at BYU found evidence to support that playing video games are good for girls, when played with a parent.
• Five Year Mission: Boldly Singing Where No One Has Sung Before—A fun interview with an Indianapolis band trying to create an original song for all 80 Star Trek episodes from the original series.
• Metropolis Reborn With Live Music—An account of my trip to see/hear IU musicians play a live score to the science fiction classic Metropolis in the restored IU Cinema.

For a while, the once-a-week pace is going to have to do. Eventually, I’d like to double or triple that output. Turning Snackr back on and setting up Twitter to stream to my desktop has been great for information flow. There is a lot of relevant Geek information that comes through those pipes that could become short pointer blogs, if not fodder for something bigger. Having survived several weeks of daily writing, though, I know I’m not ready to throttle up yet.

SociaLens

Before GeekDad gets more from me, I need to work SociaLens into the routine. My pal Christian Briggs has been carrying the load on content creation there, and I’d like to help. In addition to the geek content, Snackr also brings me a steady supply of relevant links to share about organizations and technology. One small but important step taken last month was when we hooked our diigo group into our Twitter account. One of my goals in March is to elevate one of those items into a blog post to get the writing train running on that track.

BlogSchmog

As for this blog, I have achieved the same eclectic production as I had a few years ago. Here are some of the topical highlights from a month of writing in February:

• Design Assignments—One of my goals for an HCI design studio course I am teaching is to do the assignments I am giving to the students. I have tried to turn these into blog posts as a way of processing the content and sharing more detail about the information that went into the research or concept.
• Dissertation—The biggest motivation for blogging was to help process and document my final evolution of a doctoral dissertation. The previous 18 months were so fraught with change and indecision, I felt I needed to be more committed to daily thinking on this important project. While I did manage to flesh out a number of thoughts on polarized political discourse, one big insight is that daily blogging isn’t going to magically produce my research by year’s end. I need to devote more time to this during the day, rather than waiting to think about things at 11p.
• Product Reviews—This used to be a staple for me a few years back. There is never a shortage of new websites and applications to examine and critique. I enjoy this exercise, but I’d prefer to limit this until my dissertation is fully developed. The best of both worlds are systems supporting discourse.
• Local Happenings—Since it is the season for basketball, a few posts focused on my Hoosiers. I also processed some thoughts on the Herald-Times paywall. The biggest local event for me, though, was the collapse of higher brain functions upon seeing Meg Ryan in person.
• Reflections—Once in a while I will post something that is about me or my favorite things, but I rarely write about being a dad anymore. I’d like to revive the Papa Journal, just to continue to have some record of what my kids were like before they grow up.

My biggest challenge for March will likely be when my routine drastically change for a week during Spring Break. I want to have my initial dissertation research proposal submitted by then.

An overlooked part of the process of blogging is reflection. Each month, I try to look back at the artifacts I have created and look for patterns or insights.

I remember early 2009 as a boom for hundreds of how-to-Twitter posts, most of them annoyingly focused on marketing. Such lists are problematic: Every experience is unique, and generalizations just don’t apply very well to most people. I liked Ike Pignott’s question—”What is your experience using the web interface on Twitter?”—to pose to people as a filter before listening to advice on how to use the service. It was a good way to suss out who had experienced Twitter and who had just created an account.

Among the many list posts, two stood out. One was Tom Smith’s twelve problems with Twitter, and the other was Louis Gray’s thoughts on social network depression. In their own way, both articles contemplated the effects of using Twitter, couched mainly in how much of a gap there is between expectation and practice.

Smith’s Problems
Tom Smith listed several expectations that were, in his opinion, not being met by Twitter. These included:

• You feel you have an audience
• You feel you have something to do
• You feel you are connected
• You are meta thinking about meta thinking

One of the underlying values of this critique is that followers are only paying attention if they show it by responding or at least read everything. This is a blogger-marketer perspective on Twitter, and a good example of why the term microblogging may be a misnomer.

The popular aversion to personal trivia is based on the notion that such information is meant to be the equivalent of news. Rather, knowing how someone is feeling, what food they are eating, or when they are going to sleep is relational glue. This is the information you don’t typically write lengthy real-time articles about. It is information you would only get by being in the same room with that person, observing cues not otherwise available through computer-mediated communication.

One looming value Twitter is destined to give is the opportunity for longitudinal reflection. Thinking about what you are thinking about is precisely the kind of activity we should be doing more to facilitate. We have an obsession with doing, with being productive in tangible ways. Learning, though, involves periods of reflection. You are most certainly living your life when you stop to contemplate why you are smelling the roses.

Gray’s Depression
This is precisely the point of Louis Gray’s list of catalysts for social network depression.

• Getting less attention
• Repetition
• Despised popularity
• False prophets
• Absence
• Lost focus
• Snarkiness
• Lost value

What is interesting about this list is the diversity of things of value that social network use provides. Getting less attention and despising popularity are two opposite ends of the spectrum, for example, yet both can spawn depression in different people.

These are also largely issues of perception. The world we see probably isn’t changing as drastically as we think it is. We, as individuals, are usually the ones in flux. Being in a crappy mood to start the day likely means something on the above list will get blamed for the depression. Likewise, if we enter a social network happy, the world may seem more rosy or forgivable than it did the previous day. The world changes when we interpret change.

New Expectations to Manage
Given the recent buzz about the impending release of Twitter lists, I found Gray’s comments on “despised popularity” interesting:

The individual can start to question whether what we do online is more a herd mentality than one derived based on our own preferences, and questions the popular users’ value. (Example)

The suggestion is that as lists are created, the same names are repeated time and again – whether they are bringing real value, or not adding much from their presumed areas of expertise. But as with #2, even if a person’s original value was extremely clear, by the time you’ve run into them multiple times, across networks, their own value to you is likely diminished.

This may be one of the unintended consequences of Twitter lists: depression. On the one hand, the slate is clean and the same hunger for inclusion will probably dominate the early weeks of list creation. Basic network dynamics are against those not already well connected and known, however. The rich will get richer. Those with expectations of attaining celebrity status by being active with the list feature are not likely to have their needs met.

Twitter continues to change, as do each of us. The longer you spend tweeting, the more you might benefit from utilizing a tool like Loud Twitter to help you reflect.

• Kevin Makice, Marketing & Materials Director
• John Hill, Technology Director
• Travis Brown, Sponsorship Director
• Christian Briggs, Planning

There are others who have expressed interest in organizing, and I encourage you to contact these people to volunteer your time. Believe me, there is plenty of work for everyone.

We are currently accumulating a list of names of people willing to dedicate a weekend to creating a new business from scratch. We are also looking for sponsorship to foot the bill for security, fees, and travel to bring (we hope) a representative from SW out to Indiana to facilitate. John has already created a Ning group for Bloomington Startup, which we will use along with our Facebook group to communicate news and keep track of participants. Please join these groups and let your interest in supporting the project be known.

Our goal is to recruit a diverse group of people, preferably with a more equitable gender split than past SW events. We are hoping to recruit from outside of Bloomington as well, perhaps enticing a few veterans from the Purdue weekend down into enemy territory. Take a look at some of the past projects for an idea of what to expect.

More information will be forthcoming in the weeks ahead. If you are interested in attending, please feel free to comment here or get in touch with any of the other organizers listed above.