It’s important to think about where you want information to live, and how you want it to impact the world. For everything you toss into a stream rolls past, and if I’m not at the stream when you throw your leaf onto the waters, I’ll miss the leaf entirely, or perhaps catch only the ripples.

I love the picture in this post by Guy Kawasaki. If I share it with Twitter, you might see it. If I blog it, you can come back to it. If I tweet a link to my blog post, I’ve just introduced a stopping point to my stream.

Now, Shift the Analogy

What if your blog itself is comprised of streams and stopping points? Are you introducing data into your stream (the posts) that needs to actually reside at a stopping point (the pages)? Have you made it easy for your blog to help you do business?

To Do Next

Design the flow of information in all of the systems you use. Think about temporary and permanent connections. Think about loosely-joined groups, and about how information spreads.

The stream is a great place to refresh, to see life, and to feel vibrant energy flow past. It is a powerful giver of life. But remember: life often happens out of view of the stream.

Thoughts?

Photo credit tanakwho