GREAT ADAPTATIONS

If you’re “Twitter-friendly” already, you might consider sending this to those people in your life who just can’t understand what you’re talking about. You know, they make that face and get all flustered and say “but who has time for this?”

Okay, friends. Relax, take a breath, and imagine:

You walk into this big hall, where you see all kinds of diverse people, talking, working together, laughing. Everything looks so interesting.

As you glance around the hall, you see large, clear signs indicating areas of interest. “Dogs.” “Travel.” “Donuts.” “Star Trek.” “China.” “Autism.” “Wordpress.” “SEO.” “Blogging.” “Boomers.” “Party.” “White Sox.” “Follow Friday.”

A little weird. Seriously all over the map. Seems to be a lot of “following” going on.

In front of you is a console where you can enter your own words of interest. As you do this, all around the room, the signs change. You find you can instantly gather a group of people interested in your topic. Some want to learn from you. Some want to be your peer. Some want to help you with your goals. Some are just annoying old guard sales people, and with a click, you can make them disappear from your radar.

And what about that language? So many strange forms of punctuation. And those acronyms! No matter. Just ask. Someone will delight in explaining. They’re playful, and useful. This is a culture. It has its language.

You stand at your console for a moment, refining your areas of interest, and watching the signs around the room change. Soon you have a selection of topics that absolutely delights your brain. It’s a perfect amalgam of you, your life focus, what you enjoy, what supports you, and where you want to go next. You follow your heart.

As you travel through the various areas you’ve selected, you meet so many people who have surprising similarities of life and love. If you choose, you find people in proximity and you can meet them in person. Sometimes you realize an area of interest wasn’t at all what you hoped. Click! Off the radar with that one too. Mostly, though, you find your own brain expanding with the ideas, innovations, and offerings of others. New perspectives give you a boost in your own creativity. You realize you’re actually on to something.

The difficult thing about it all is the excitement. With the rising tide of possibility, you have to keep refining and making more focused choices. And all those new friends!

But you don’t have to stick around when it gets overwhelming. With a blink, you can find yourself at your familiar desk, getting on with other things. The difference is, you’ve tapped into a big, moving river of possibility, relationship, expansion, connections, innovation, and creativity. It’s there. It likes you. The welcome mat is out.

Get started, it’s not hard. Go on www.Twitter.com, enter the small steps to create an account, and then you can come follow me. Just to get going. I’m @brainmaker there on Twitter. We’d love to see you!

Suzanna Stinnett

Now that you’ve visited the hall, be sure you know about The Twalienator

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Getting noticed

For those of us who have been exploring and utilizing online communication for a while, it might go something like this:

We’ve prepared our trail of crumbs, hyper-linking our new friends back to us. There’s our home page, it’s the front porch. The porch swing has its comfy pillows. Before we go out, we dress up with just the right shades of red and blue, choose a few associates willing to stand with us, and then board the boat, bound for the bright lights of Social Media City.

A little momentum

We fuel the launch with our special notion of “value” in strings of words, showy links, and gestures of good faith thrown into the void of social media networking. Soon we arrive in cyber-public, navigating the steps in our strange new shoes.

Teetering out in public

Now we know how rising supermodels feel. Right? Walking out on that runway, all those eyes on you, critically observing your drape, your gait, your essence.

Or not. Maybe your onlookers are enraptured still with their own thoughts, pinging around in their brains, and your special moment of self expression is just the revolving screen saver, background eye candy for a disengaged audience. In new media, it’s called lurking. Onlurkers?

Still, the potential to be noticed, observed, and even replicated, imitated or plagiarized can be a body rush. The potential, at least when it’s well articulated, can really get your attention. It’s called “the world.”

Brain behind the curtain

You could ask yourself the same questions that a slender new clothes-colt might ask of her onlookers: Who is really watching? Who really cares? Who might be an ally here, who will rise to defeat me? Can any of these people launch me to fame, wealth, notoriety, or even a good time at the bar?

We’re humans, you know, and even as we extend our neural reach into exponential other-lands, we don’t quite get the power of what we’re doing. Boy, does it feel strange to know that your words could enter the viral spread and become part of the collective mind.

How many lurkers does it take…

So back to that potential. I’m thinking that lurkers make up such a large percentage of the observing online population, they must actually be considered part of that potential itself. After all, lots of people lurk before they participate, so they are actually changed by the experience of lurking.

How many lurkers does it take to screw in a light bulb? Are lurkers actually providing a kind of cushion, like mulch in a garden, protecting the emerging energies while they gather light? Do we love our lurkers as the future sparks they are?

Suzanna

Other interesting conversations: John Battelle

While the conversation around social media heats up, I want to be sure you know about Erica O’Grady. Read about her at her blog, Reinventing Erica, and look at what she’s been up to.

I met Erica at the San Francisco Social Media Camp, which was a total blast, by the way. When I get finished with the book, Web 55.0, and head out on the road, I hope to get into some of Erica’s playgrounds and see what we can cook up. Meanwhile, we’ll share some stories this Friday at dinner in North Beach. I’ll keep you posted! (That’s almost a pun, isn’t it?)

You keep me posted too. How is social media treating you? Confused? Exhilarated? Can’t get enough? What sites are you on? Go check out Social Media dot biz, it’s pretty special. And keep writing, everyone.

See you soon,

Suzanna

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I’m writing about my experiences at Social Media Camp, and all the gazillions of connections it triggered, over at the Examiner.

Here’s the link for the first article, “Inside the brain of social media, my brain and Erica O’Grady”

And here’s the second one, “Making connections with the business-builders in social media.”

There’s much more to come, as I can’t seem to process the information quickly enough before it mushrooms into another world of its own, which I then have to navigate.

I think it’s time for a brain break myself!

cheers

Suzanna

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Today’s blog is an addendum to my Examiner post. On Mondays, once or twice a month, I do a post called “Jack’s Times.” Jack is our new family member, born June 1st, 2008. I’m interested in how technology is bubbling up right now, and how our engagement in it will affect what Jack will be using in a few years.

You can see the post here: Web 55.0 Examiner.

In the post, I mentioned the transition from using landlines in our homes to other options, especially Skype. Here I’ll go into a little more detail about how that works.

Skype is a free program which allows you to make free VoIP (”Voice over Internet protocol”) calls worldwide between Skype subscribers. Even if none of your friends have a Skype account, you can still call anyone worldwide over regular landlines for a rate that is much lower than those charged by telephone companies.

Neat!

Skype has a bunch of other features that people are making great use of, including instant messaging, file transfer and video conferencing.

Here’s my own learning curve. I’m exploring how I will connect to my online world (you) while I travel. I’ll be writing from France, from Australia, and who knows where in between. My dream is to be able to do all my tasks, my writing, blogging, responding – all of it – by voice command. This is going to require some leaps out of my current devices, and even how I think about my communication. Are any of my readers using dictation software? Chime in about that.

And how about Skype or any other phone alternatives? Fill us in about your experiences in that department.

You can use the link below to check out Skype. Hurry up! I want to start doing teleconferences, and we’ll be using Skype so we can all talk together.

Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm

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I’m very curious about the ways women are adapting to changing times in terms of career aspirations, work life and family life. In the face of unaffordable transportation costs, for example, how are we innovating in order to thrive?

I’ve brought Shirley Chisholm back into the conversation because she represents, to me, a woman on a mission. I meet lots of women these days who have a mission, or they might call it a vision. They engage the dynamics of change.

The ones I’m talking about today (see resources below) are doing, I think, what Shirley did. Accepting the threat and embracing the opportunity, they draw juice right out of the confusion of large cultural change. Then they innovate around the lifestyle they want, creating a template so others can use their systems.

What comes out of all that innovating is a new paradigm. In this paradigm, women can be healthy moms and pursue their careers. This is an innovation that could not come through the visions of men. They did not have the need. But men who want to be with their children and continue their careers can benefit just the same from the visionary systems women create.

Here are some resources where you can learn more about the future:

Flexperience Consulting is hosting a conference in San Francisco, June 24th. “Flexibility – the Future of Work” is the theme. I’ve emailed them to suggest that they make this four-hour conference available online. (My two-bits regarding flexibility and the future – use technology to reach more people, promote innovation, and foster connection. Please.) And take a look at their criteria and awards for women innovating here at their Flexperience Forum.

I’m deeply encouraged by the scope of challenges women take on. As we become more adept at online communication, this web we weave reaches into distant corners with promise and potential.

Here are some questions I’d like your input on:

• Do you feel your work life and family life are balanced?
• If you could make one change in your work routine, what would it be?
• Are you able to work from home part of the time? All of the time?
• Do you think your job is worth the time and fuel you spend getting there?
• Is there anything you’ve adapted in your life to feel more balanced?

Let me know.
Suzanna

Learn about women engaging modern communication: Cloud Alchemy

Follow me on Twitter: Brainmaker

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I’ve written a post over on my Examiner blog about welcoming the newest family member. Jack was born yesterday, and we’re all giggly with awe and the perspective a new baby brings. Check it out here:

Nothing virtual about Jack’s point of view.

I’ll be back tomorrow!

Have a fantastic Monday,

Suzanna

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The creators of Common Craft, Sachi LeFever and Lee LeFever, are brilliant at lighting up the game pieces of social technology. Using beautifully simple and short videos, they have already built an easy-access library of tutorials on aspects of online communication. Most worthy of mention is the fact that their material will work just as well for a 90-year-old as it will for anyone else. I consider them peers in the ongoing work of bridging generations.

Take a look at their video, “Blogs in Plain English.”

Yeah, I know, Lee talks a little fast. So watch it a couple of times if you need to. Let me point out, too, that as simple as these videos are, they are not oversimplified. Online communication is not really that complicated. The systems people are learning to use it can be daunting, but with a little mental elbow grease and some community support, we can all learn this stuff.

Speaking of community support, I’m going to model what online communication is good at, right now, just for you. I’d like to introduce a cloverleaf.

For good luck?
Okay, let’s back up. There’s a new term for you, most likely. A “cloverleaf” in online communication is where online and onground communities interact. To me, this is the best technology has to offer: mutual enhancement. It’s called a “cloverleaf” because, like the highway device, things move on and off the ramps and go in both directions. On a highway, a cloverleaf provides access to the community and the highway, and it is designed to do that seamlessly. In online communication, the cloverleaf occurs in many places.

The cloverleaf I am introducing is (drum roll!) the Bay Area Blog Society. TA DA!! Rev your virtual (gas free) engines!

The Bay Area Blog Society, or – you got it! – BABS, is now forming in the laptops and brains of a handful of local bloggers and blog-interested individuals. Most of us are in or near the San Francisco Bay area, but people like the LeFevers are so integral to the mission of BABS that I have invited them to be long distant BABS-es. We’ll probably have a lot of those, since it’s ridiculous to take a tool like the Internet and exclude appropriate players by virtue of their locale.

Still, part of the cloverleaf effect is that a regional association allows us to descend from our virtual crowsnests and show up in a room together. That’s a great thing. (Parties, relationships, conferences, that kind of juice.)

BABS in brief
BABS will support the development and responsible use of blogs, helping new bloggers along with local classes and e-material. Along with producing guides for people who are not yet comfortable with the Internet (and sharing ones that already exist), BABS will promote and support audio recording of useful blog material for the sight-impaired. This large demographic is pathetically under-served on the Internet. BABS will set out to solve that problem.

Read the early version of the BABS mission statement. Comments please!

See you soon,

Suzanna

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TO: Boomers and the People Who Love Them

RE: Web 55.0

The Top 3 Absolute Must-Haves to connect with Boomers online.

#1. Language aptitude.

#2. Proficiency with words.

#3. Exquisite grasp of grammar.

Boomers learned language when language mattered. It still matters to us. I take a lot of liberties in my blog writing, but I never forget who could be reading. Actually, that’s one of the problems Boomers have when they start the process of online communication. Educated Boomers tend to write academically.

Perfection, Darling

Let’s take a minute here at this fork in the road. On the right, we have the grassy path of writing as we’re accustomed. Ah, grammar. Isn’t it pretty? See how perfect these sentences are, their shapely form, their perfect spelling? Come, reader! We nancy-dance amongst the darling buds! Sorry, Boomer. You’re going to bore us all to smithereens. Let’s go left into the bog.

Hey, we’re talking here!

Blogs are a conversation. Repeat after me: Blogs are a conversation. Nothing screams “newbie” like a thousand-word four-paragraph full-text post with nary a bold letter. Understand, my sister brother, a blog is not an online venue for printed matter. The human eye cannot traverse a screen as it traverses a page. Cannot, does not. See the right hand, twitching upon the mouse.

Here lies a lesson in reciprocity.

Boomers, step up here, and shake hands with the rest of the online demographic. That’s nice. Now I want you Boomers to promise you will attempt to be conversational, and warm up your blogging prose with some grammatical hijacking. Phrase-pulling. Short and punchy, epithetical delights. That’s right, mix up those words! Swagger around in your grammar pajamars! Tease us with meaning.

In other words, learn a new language out of the one you’ve used all your life. For the love of Pete, have some fun with it.

It’s your turn, you underage laptoppers.

Your assignment’s a bit different. You may hate this, but I’m going to ask you to read. Books. That’s right, I said books. One at a time. Bare minimum, one full book every two months. Fast track to articulate, Boomer-friendly prose: A book a week. And the best sources for your growth in language capacity? Classics. You knew that, didn’t you?

One last assignment for both of you.

Boomers, your job is to post a reply below, listing your recommendation for a book that is guaranteed to benefit language skills. Not too long, please. Youthies, you are asked to suggest a blog that you think demonstrates first-rate readability. Hint: Try to find something that doesn’t flash.

Now play nice, everybody.

Suzanna Stinnett

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Reclaimed Materials Sculpture by Patrick Amiot

Sebastopol, California

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It’s the weirdest thing… the evolution of my inner response mechanisms to become an appropriate (successful, productive, effective) interface to my readers (potential, current and eventual readers.)

It’s the weirdest thing. Uncomfortable. Stomach-churning. Fear-inducing.

Moments occur when I think this can be so much easier – if I’m simply candid. “Just be yourself!” Um. Well. “Myself” is not necessarily the most comfortable thing in the world.

Why?

Because, quite frankly, I am not used to people being interested in “Myself.” Personality-wise, I lean more towards the “Oh, I don’t want to bother anyone,” and the “I’d hate to trouble you,” type of gal.

So I’m in “refreshingly candid” training. I’m going to ease into it a bit by telling you about the writers I am learning from and watching daily on their blogs.

Darren Rowse is really out there, working in a number of social media platforms, and doing good, solid content-rich blogging. He has a huge following. He’s a seasoned pro and financially successful with his online businesses. He’s also a theologist, a minister (or once-minister perhaps), a father of wee ones, and, to my assessment, rather private. I trust Darren 100%. (His website is www.problogger.com.)

Brian Clark is super-articulate, a professional writer with a writerly way that I gravitate towards, also likely rather private. Last week he told a very personal story about a head injury that got scary. In the story, we learn that he, too, has wee ones. I respect him, learn a great deal from him, and enjoy his posts. I remember when Brian posted a gag “goodbye” for April 1^st, I didn’t understand what was happening. I didn’t like it.

Although he came back the next day explaining, my sensory system had “regrouped” around the realization of the fragility and unpredictability of these relationships. I am slightly removed from him because of this.

Later, when he posted the personal-growth-through-near-tragedy article, I found myself wondering if there was a little bit of experimentation going on regarding how his readers respond to emotional content, and this distanced me further. Just a tiny little bit. (His website is www.copyblogger.com.)

NOTE: This is not a reflection on Brian. It reveals how I think and how my readers might also interpret me. I want to learn what grows trust in my own readers – and what might push them away, even a little.

Yaro Starak is my teacher. I know him better than the others, but more by osmosis than anything he specifically reveals. I notice how much more deeply I am engaged now that he has left home and is traveling and writing from his travels. The videos he has posted showing him in the locations he visits are powerful barrier-droppers.

Especially when his crazy hair is waving in the wind and he says “you should have seen some of the ladies’ hair.” I think Yaro is very, very good at being himself and presenting his life out in the open to his readers. I want to learn to do this. He has a beginning blog tutorial here.

Sonia Simone wrote a good piece about being naked, which is what it often feels like when you’re trying to build a community on your blog. Writing academically gets you absolutely nowhere. Tempting as it is, you can’t hide behind the words. You have to use the words to connect. That’s the whole point. Sonia, by the way, is easy for me to trust. It might be because she’s a woman, but probably more because she’s a very good writer and that in itself is a magnet to my sensibilities. She’s got her boat out there in the wide open sea of conversation, and I respect that. (Her website is www.remarcom.com.)

Maybe through these vignettes, I’ve shown you a little bit of who I am. These people encourage me to keep at it. I’m grateful for them. I’m grateful for you, too.

I’ve come up with my own term for the demographic I want as my web family. I call it “Web 55.0”, and that means all you characters born within ten years of 1955. So, readers, I have a question. Please take a moment to tell me something about you:

How do you experience online relationships? What magnetizes you? What kind of connection or community can you imagine having through online vehicles? Be as fanciful or pragmatic as you like, and tell me what you’re thinking.

Tenderly,

Suzanna