When Google is the front door, the side door, the hidden key under the mat, the cash register, the finder of everything we ever lost, and everything we wished we’d lost, what comes next? When everyone is a newspaper, a magazine, a TV station, a radio station, a conference, a curator, an educator, a business owner, a shopkeeper, what do we have? When you and I are the creators, the consumers, and the collaborators of this media, what does this mean to us?
The gatekeepers are still out there. Neither you nor I can write for the New York Times or put a film up on the BBC. We can’t just bind up our book and stick it on the shelf at Waterstones or Chapters. We can’t waltz into any giant corporation and offer up our products.
Maybe we’re just preachers and nonprofit types. Maybe we just want to reach people like us in all this noise. How do we connect? This might just be the wilderness of a million signals, the atomization of the world’s voices, the fall of the tower of Babel. Again.
Tune Your Signal. Gather.
We hold the tools. We have the goals. We have permission. It’s us.
What comes next in a post media world, where everything is atomized, is that we work on building molecules. We cast off the old models, and we assemble new forms.
Put up your first signal. Get your voice out there. What happens next? Do people respond?
Because what comes next, I believe, is that you gather together the people who share your views. You reach out and connect with those who understand your goals, who share them, who breathe them in the same pulse.
And as you learn how to reach out to people? As you tune your signal, you’ll find that you can accomplish more with more people in collaboration.
The Next Action
This might read as just a thought piece to you, but it isn’t. It’s the mindset before the action. It’s the larger vision before the tiny, granular moves.
If everything is modular, make each piece have a means to connect. If everything is its own gatejumper, make each piece such that it can align with others. If everything is a solo voice, make it harmonize with a choir.
If you are selling, make everything a la carte, and everything a bundle. If you are curating, find the frame, collect, and make it easy to build the large work. If you are servicing, be the very best at building the crowd into a voice, and listen long and hard to that voice.
Oh, and community is not an option.
And if this makes no sense whatsoever, go back to reading about blogging and the ROI of Facebook and Twitter and stock prices.
Inspired by my friend, Ed, who pointed out this brief post by Fred Wilson, who used the term “post media company” to refer to Google. I found an older reference here pointing to this snip.
Photo credit, collage of imags from this set
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The seas are getting so interesting just now… love this. But I really did need to sleep! ;)
See you on the flip side. Where I expect to find more opening shots across the bow.
Interesting. This is the first time ‘m coming across an article on post media communications.
I liked the ‘Tune Your Signal. Gather’ part of this article. Even though we’ve the tools, our goals get distracted, or may be, we try to grow at a pace faster than our momentum and end up dejected!
As you pointed out, ‘m still learning reaching out to people and making my voice heard! One fine day, may be, you’ll hear it too :)
Look forward to seeing more articles on this..
“Because what comes next, I believe, is that you gather together the people who share your views. You reach out and connect with those who understand your goals, who share them, who breathe them in the same pulse.”
How very true about this, Chris.
It really give me faith in blogging and social networking.
Chris, you say that this post is inspired by your friend ED. I gather that this is also much of the way your writing partner Julien thinks. Set a goal, and manage each step. I believe in this form of building but I also believe that in all of this noise, people with thousands of twitter followers, hundreds of facebook friends, and a zillion friendfeed followers that we need to start zeroing in.
One of the things that frustrates me is all of the analysts. Everyone is an analyst. Analysts are analyzing other analysts and blog posts are all starting to look the same. For marketing, business building, and flat out getting things done we need to STOP talking about the tools and START growing our relationships.
Your right Chris, this place is too freaking noisy. Everyone tooting their own horns and tooting their friends horns. Did you see the latest analyst predictions on where the web was going next? Have you seen the rapid growth in the social sector? Have you read the top 10 ways to leverage social media by the guy who’s been using twitter for a week? (WHO CARES??)
C’mon people, we are smarter than this. Lets start creating alliances of unique thinking. Lets band together around the greater good. Lets help each other grow our businesses and succeed. Lets do, rather than talk. Instead of five bloggers clawing at each other for the same market segment, pool your talents and create a network. Instead of Hashing and rehashing the same old crap lets get together on an intimate skype call and help one another strategize.
This isn’t high school. Twitter followers, facebook friends…all means nothing without context. Go out and help someone….and seriously think about it. Today, figure out your Macro, and start building from the micro.
Keith
This helps me answer some of the questions I was asking here: http://is.gd/6PRE
Now, I just wonder if I have the courage to pull it thru…
In my opinion - shaped by Malcolm Gladwell’s piece about spaghetti sauce on Ted.com - post-media contains no universal perfect, only many perfects. Your atomic theory of social media is a great analogy to the building it takes to form these ever-changing landscapes of interaction. It is also relevant to the stage we are in its development. The big bang was just a few short years ago…
The media behemouths are laboring under their weights and here we are like sprites in the new land. We are agile, fluid and able to take the most advantage of these new domains. I sense fear and dread when I look backwards. Few are shedding their aged ways. Looking forward is darkness to me - not even a twilight darkness. Its only broken by glowing bits of molecules taking shape. We are on the edge of highest expression of the human consciousness.
Kevin Kelly - awesome visionary - understands we are building the largest machine ever built by mankind. Picture it as a Dyson sphere with our terminals being portals to the machine, the one. We are the builders. We are the visionaries. We are the ones whom generations forward will look back and marvel at what we did, what we all did individually and in our organic molecules. We - this generation - may be the most qualified to offer guidance as to its use. Are we the ancients?
I am not vaulted up by this observation. It burdens me. I believe it burdens you and many of the achievers in this space. Post media needs its beacons, but are the beacons simply warnings of crashing against the rocks or are they guidepost to navigate the channels?
Present is action. Future is direction. One must be considered in light of the other. If the beacons emerge, actions will follow.
Subscribing
Chris,
Great insight! We’ve become consumed with ‘meeting’ instead of ‘knowing’ people. That part must happen, or all of this friend-finding is futile. Most people I talk to say they are using social networking to grow their business, but few can even say how they plan to use the connections they’re making.
And ‘amen’ to the post by Keith Burtis.
Not going to expound this time.
Suffice it to 10/10.
“The gatekeepers are still out there.”
I guess that’s the thought that was brewing in the back
of mind this lately.
Thanks for making it a cogent statement; the bracing
can make a huge difference.
“And if this makes no sense whatsoever, go back to reading about blogging and the ROI of Facebook and Twitter and stock prices.”
No. We made too much progress. One tiny 10 watt radio
station at a time, we made too many yards to give it back.
I’m not surprised we’re feeling this more all of a sudden;
it’s the economy stupid.
Seriously, I’ve been around for a few
“Worst recession since 1929!”[*]
Each time, the large corp’s creep backward,
inhaling the real estate they had previously
celebrated growing out of.
But that can actually mean hope.
When the economy improves, we can go back to grabbing, er establishing, our share of vines, while the giant eyes whole vineyards.
Why should it have to be that way?
It’s called competition. It has always been there.
“MGM is coming to Youtube. How can I compete?!”
1) You have to remember to get traffic;
the ears out there that are mated to your message
need to know it exists. Why is so important?
“…you’ll find that you can accomplish more with more people in collaboration. “-CB
2) Seth should have linked here today, and you might consider reading his post, then REREAD Chris’
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/11/seen-it-all-bef.html
[*] What IS the punctuation there? Anybody?
Chris. Timely post.
The more people realize that the web isn’t a collection of articles, videos, stories but really a web of people, then true communities will bloom.
The key is to connect with your tribe, the people you have an affinity with and participate in sharing the big ideas on topics that matter.
Page views don’t matter, thought bursts do. Links don’t matter, connections do (is. Twitter friends and feeds).
One thing google has right, one thing the NY Times has right is the quality of the source. The fingers that point toward quality. To rise above the muck of the masses, share great ideas! You’ll earn your place as a trusted source. Even CNN had to prove it’s worth in the beginning.
These are early days my friends.
Fabulous. This is the conversation we need to be having — one about collaboration. Steve Gillmor has been talking about the power of microcommunities, but very few people understand this power (yet), including myself. I do know that my voice is heard more than ever before, and that I have gotten to “know” people I never thought I would now. The use of this, up until now, has been random to me. A personal brand, and then what? A bigger personal brand?
Or a movement that has the power to change a country! Would anyone question the ROI of social media to the Obama election?
This is what I’d like you to talk about at the Conference.
I think you are moving the ball down the field here Chris (not just getting people up to speed) and concur completely with the vison and practice you outline. Very pirate like.
As Keith points out, these implications are not some high school game. When David Meerman Scott encourages us to think like a publisher, I tend to hear with the ears of someone walking up to the printing press when it was first invented, not a corporation simply seeking to sell more product.
The whole monetization monkey is relevant, and I applaud folks for innovating around the monitization issue, but that focus alone can be an anchor weighing down the broader innovation of practices outside the box.
While I talk often about measuring and ROI, this held my attention partly because of the familiarity of the message. Over in the association world we do alot of talking - not as much action - on the impact of the web on our organizations. We used on own knowledge. The web is perhaps one of or our biggest competitors. But it also our salvation in many ways - I don’t mean just as a portal - but as a model. Associations are the original place where individuals are “creators, the consumers, and the collaborators” … we are only beginning to learn from the lessons. So I shared your posting and a question over at my blog: http://tinyurl.com/5n38ko - love to hear others thoughts there.
Co-creation and collaboration (and the other C, community) are the leanest and most agile processes around. As a former broadcasting geek, I love the exhortation to tune my signal - and Chris, you’re one of the people showing me all the knobs and faders.
Now I’m off to power up my transmitter…
Nice post, we need to get to know more about people than just communicate on a social level. It’s the beginning but not the end of communication.
Craig
http://www.budgetpulse.com
Your post gave me the shivers (in a good way). To throw in a perspective - although not one I necessarily agree with (from a now defunct business mag called World Business…. hhmmm, author Simon Caulkin):
‘The company is an extraordinary invention , a prodigious amplifier of human effort and the chief engine of economic progress. No advanced country has reached its present condition without the aid of a body of sophisticated large companies. We depend on companies not only to satisfy economic wants, but also for comradeship, identity and purpose’
I think of my web projects as being an architect- I am building myself, my curriculum, my work, brick by brick over time, like a house or a building I can be proud of and live in for the future. It’s not instantly perfect, but it will become refined. But it takes patience to do this, which not everyone has when it comes to the 24/7 would we live in.
I’m in a stage where I am reflecting back on what’s been accomplished over the past 2 years, and what I ned to do to take the next train forward. It’s not perfectionism, but taking a moment to regroup and re-evaluate, with an eye towards the next jumping off point.
This is one of the reasons I love Chris Penn’s work so much- he stays focused, involved, and takes all the data he currently has, with an eye towards how it might be useful or leveraged in the future. And I think you have done the same thing here- built a great platform for people to share ideas and communicate, and find other potential members of their larger tribe, even if we are all scattered geographically.
“Put up your first signal. Get your voice out there. What happens next? Do people respond?” Great advice and great insight. New forms of reaching out are evolving right before our eyes and social media is leading the charge. ”
“Community is not an option”, not only is truth-but I believe is one of the evolving social media laws. Community — no matter whether a marketer, writer, entrepreneur, or else, rules supremely — and is the new forming “cell” that will eventually birth ideas that will change business and life as we know it. great post Chris.
Chris, great insights, as usual. Thank you!
One thing I’ve been wondering is do you think Social Media’s contributors, participants, etc. tend to be particularly social in nature, or do you find even introverts contribute and participate?
I ask this because by nature, human beings are social… But many of us, myself included, benefit more than we contribute. This isn’t on purpose… we too are/can be generous.
Just curious if the leading contributors to social media — those providing all the great content, insights and benefits — tend to be extroverts, or are there also many introverts? I know, probably a very silly question, but one I was hoping your readers might have interesting feedback on. : >
Thanks!
Shelli
I wondered when the terminology would change… “new media” now “post media” era?
So there are still doors to open, unless those larger entities intend to break down their own and welcome and funnel those tiny, granular moves into themselves, creating a textural and unbound, instead of flat, solid (dense, immobile) entity.
Who’s to say the larger entities won’t either open up or actually self-destruct under their burgeoning weight?
I’m not sure I understand what “post-media” means in this context (post-MASS-media, maybe?). I mean, as long as we are talking about connecting people via technology, then we are talking about media (in the sense of “mediating interactions”).
Frankly, the more connected I get in this mediated way, the less connected I FEEL. In that sense, the atomized world you describe is depressingly accurate. In order to use these media (blogs, twitter, cellphone, etc.) we actually have to be separated in reality. Of course, we can participate virtually in broader, more flexible, and even more surprising communities via these media, but at the cost of a increasing physical isolation.
Face-to-face, in person conversation remains my favorite “medium” - not because it’s post, but because it’s “pre”. I’m old school.
Hi Shelli-
I think what we have in social media is the kids who were kinda geeky in high school, and were often overlooked, more than we have the captain of the football team. So I think it takes some getting used to that everyone does have something valuable to contribute to the mix. People who are “introverted” or shy by nature still have tons to offer- you just have to find a place and space where they feel comfortable doing so.
I interview a lot of people for my podcast, and at the heart of it, it’s all about establishing a level of comfort and report, even with the shyest people- everyone loves to be understood and find birds of a feather- now we don;t have to live in the same town to find like-minded souls.
And take it from me- I thought I had the geekiest niche topic you could imagine- and more people than I thought possible actually think it’s interesting, which gives me the courage to try more and more. So I think it’s really less about extroverts and introverts than about willing to take some more chances and figure out what makes you unique and special, and how to share that with others.
I hope this makes some sort of sense….
“Because what comes next, I believe, is that you gather together the people who share your views. You reach out and connect with those who understand your goals, who share them, who breathe them in the same pulse.”
Cohesion and attraction of likeminded people is good. To a point.
That point is limited by the phenomenon of groupthink and the sort of intellectual sterility that comes with being in a herd. Sheep find a sheepdog useful, even if they don’t like him much. Our critics can see our limitations more clearly than can our followers and collaborating with peers in completely unrelated domains generates more novel insights than collaborating with people who share the same social culture and frames of reference
The conversation is not new the context is.
Read McLuhan, Postman, etc.
My interest is to focus on the functionality within a medium and the behaviors within a media environment.
Less interested in the labels or the people that espouse the labels.
There is a lot of wheel re-inventing going on in this “post-media” world.
Whitney, thanks for your feedback. That’s what I was thinking but appreciate your input very much.
Sometimes I feel selfish because I read and watch adn listen to more than I contribute. But it takes all I have just to stay on top of things, and I’m a mediasnacker on every level. I consume newspapers, print magazines, books, podcasts, online video, websites, social media, and have no time to contribute.
Also contributing really exposes you and this is a little scary for many, I think.
Fortunately the internet as a platform, aka twitter, facebook, blogging, etc., enables people to socialize in a way that’s not as threatening as it might be physically, and as a result the information is more democratized and there’s more of it!
Thanks again everyone for your input,
Shelli
Ok, from out on the frontier in Wyoming, I think I have figured Social Media out. : >
SOCIAL MEDIA=the Watercooler 2.0.
It’s just people being people… Social Media is Word of Mouth … about politics, passions, places… But instead of 5-7 people around the watercooler, you’re engaging a global population of friends and family and coworkers that numbers more than 1 billion.
Social Media is just people being people, but we have better access to the conversation. The internet is our platform, instead of the watercooler and telephone.
Cheers, great thought-provoking post and thread here.
Thanks Chris and everyone,
Shelli
I drove by a store on El Camino in Santa Clara, CA the other day that had a huge sign in the window.
The store’s name was “Instinct” - not sure what they were selling (sorry) - but they at least sold the message in the window:
“Waiting is like so last year!”
In response to some of the comments about “join together and do, not just talk” - that will happen - I am sure. The fundamentals behind the contacts is the same: people and relationships, but they are not instant of course, even though they stroke our egos with an initial “Follow”. :)
Yet - to stop talking about the tools - I think that is wrong. TOOLS are the cornerstone to allow this evolution - be it Website tools, Enterprise collaboration, or interactive engagement tools.
The good news is that the tools finally are here, here to stay, and actually work after years in the making. Seems like some good learns from the dot.com bust bad SW days..
But you know all know this… obviously! This is the “clued in” group - but it is a huge world still…
Cheers, and nice article.
Ellen Feaheny
http://www.clifftop.us
What does “community is not an option” mean? Anyone want to expand on that for me?
I believe he is saying to the effect of to not grow and develop your community in product development or business development “is not an option” (internal collaborations, partnerships, third party developers, buyers, fans, online community, etc… all of them… ).
In other words, chose to work and develop and grow a business in a silo, and you will stay in a silo (in terms of success).
That’s my take.
Hello Chris! I like the next action segment best. The whole piece reads like a meditation on how to be who you [we?] are. Would be fun to hear your read this one or see it as a picture book.
@wiredprworks on twitter.com
This was inspiring. There is definitely a tendancy to get wrapped up in ROI and latest technologies - it’s all about how to capitalize, how can the client use it, how can my business use it and how can I grow my reputation with it. But this post reminded me why I fell in love with this stuff in the first place. It’s about being a part of something, following your passion and finding people to connect with in a deeper and broader sense all at once. Using social media means we can make connections and help each other move forward, whether that’s B2C, C2C, C2B, B2B or any other crazy combination of those things. Thank you for taking a second to step back and show us a simple view of the big picture.
“Because what comes next, I believe, is that you gather together the people who share your views. You reach out and connect with those who understand your goals, who share them, who breathe them in the same pulse.”
This sounds Utopian, but often manifests as conformity. I am not disagreeing, rather just worrying about the possibility of people only searching out like minded individuals to share ideas and concerns with. It sounds like the beginning of online cults.
One of the beautiful things about the direction media is going (has gone) is how many points of view exist that truly allow people to consider all sides of an issue. The concept of only searching out like minded views through media is scary (I understand this was not your point and I am just trying to play devils advocate while be painfully pessimistic!)
The moment a crowd is converged into a single voice is the moment diversity dies.
Maybe I’m misunderstanding you, Chris, but I’d rather view America (and the world) as a mosaic of cultures, each having something different to share, than a Utopian-like master race.
How did Obama get made president? By a single voice standing alone? No.
That’s my point. Only, that’s just one implementation of the point. I could find you several smaller versions of the same.
Nice job, as always. I’m not totally on board with the idea that we are in a “post media” world, but I agree with much of the message here. I really love all of the allegory and metaphor in use both in the post and in the comments.
Being a trained chemist and a radio enthusiast, I particularly like your radio analogy (”Tune your signal.”) and your chemistry metaphors (atomization, molecules, etc). I also found zenpundit’s herd allusion interesting.
I wonder if the Obama election wasn’t more similar to a football team’s win than the arrival of a herd or a flock. The difference? Each player has a unique role, rather than similar responses to a single stimulus (herd) or lead/follow response (flock). Each voter likely had individual, somewhat uncoordinated reasons for choosing Obama.
Ryan has a good point. A multitude of voices and perspectives is important, but they definitely don’t need to be in concordance. I don’t think any post-media conglomerate would agree anyway. What Chris means is that you find people with common interests and goals, but not necessarily the same viewpoint on the world–like, say, a cult. Just like Obama’s case: there are a lot of people who voted for Obama who disagree on a variety of controversial topics, but the fact remains that they have one common vision: change.
Thank you. I have found myself contemplating this topic quite a bit recently as I find myself more and more drawn to YouTube, Miro, Hulu, and Joost. I watch broadcast TV b/c I work in media and I need to monitor what is going on in certain niche markets. (USHispanic) I know I am not alone, and if I am not alone, this marks the start of a tremendous transformation of how media is created and consumed {to echo your remarks}.
As you also said, certain media are not going anywhere. They will always be with and transform to adapt to changing times. But more and more digital, user-created media is taking the pie that was once shared in great part by TV, Radio, and Print. Exciting times!
Wow Chris
You and I have very similar life philosophies. And I’m all game! I would totally love to collaborate with you on possible future projects…
My email address is tcbyer33@netzero.com and my name is Ronit.
Looking forward to keeping in touch…
The one voice is spot on… What we need to learn is how to harness that voice. Just think of what the post media world could be if WE ALL spoke with the same voice.
There would be no question that we could have 0 emmission cars; wind, solar, tidal and nuclear power generation; no more wars…
Some of this is really a pipe dream, but wow, how Roddenberryesque would it be? We already communicate with little
Devices… Who knows, maybe we should give this some more thought!
pipnuwhdvtygakfxwell, hi admin adn people nice forum indeed. how’s life? hope it’s introduce branch ;)