LIFE MOVES PRETTY FAST...

THE WIRE: How The Guardian will make money out of its UGC community

If you know me in real life or have read this blog or my tweets for a while you will know that I am an enormous fan of the HBO show The Wire. It's fair to say that it could be classified as an addiction.

It's a show that requires proper attention, in fact it demands proper attention. This isn't bubble gum telly, as David Simon one of the creators said on the BBC in 2008, he's not writing The Wire for the average viewer... "fuck the average viewer." This isn't a TV show that you can dip in and out of, in fact this isn't even a show that you can really watch on TV. The only way is to download it all or buy or borrow the DVD box set (you'll find that Wire addicts are more than happy to spread their addiction and share) I think that I would have found it impossible to watch one episode and wait a week for the next episode.

Rather like an addiction I think that The Wire makes you into a bit of a bore - in a way that if you're in it then it's brilliant, if you're not then it's awful. What I mean by that once you get seriously addicted you just need to lay your hands on anything else vaguely related than might help quench your hunger.

From show The Wire I moved onto reading Homicide and The Corner (two of the books that The Wire is based on), then got into the the early seasons of the TV show Homicide and now I spending a lot of time reading books by Richard Price (Clockers probably being on my Desert Island Books list,  Lush Life is well worth a read too) and George Pelecanos (maybe start with Hell To Pay). I just needed more and more of the backstory of The Wire to get Wired (so to speak)

Throughout all of this the Guardian Wire community was my quasi-support group. Every week it would take and dissect an episode. They were, still are in fact, essential reading for anyone interested in delving deeper into the whole Wire experience. I can't recommend them highly enough. Earlier this week I got an email from Steve Busfield at The Guardian. He curates The Wire blog community on The Guardian's Comment Is Free space:

Hello

I have some exciting developments about the Guardian's Wire blog to talk to you about. This Christmas, we're going to be publishing a book of the best of our online coverage of the Wire. This includes blog posts, interviews and reviews, as well as many of the comments left by guardian.co.uk users. Because you contributed to a comment thread on one or more of our Wire blog posts, your comments may be included in this collection.

This kind of use is covered by our terms and conditions (http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html), but I just wanted to let you know personally, as I hope you'll be as excited as we are that this content will now be available in book form.

Thanks again for your participation in the blog, and now the book, too. The blog will, of course, continue.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/organgrinder+series/the-wire-re-up

Steve

The discussion is here at Comment Is Free about what to call the book.

I just think that this is a brilliant initiative.

For all the talk about the monetization of UGC and whether advertising can ever deliver an ROI, The Guardian have just turned this on its head and decided to make a product out of UGC and bring in revenue that way.

It's something that I will either buy for myself, or ask for as an xmas present, and its also a book that I will buy for a number of fellow Wire addicts. I really hope that it does well. When I know more details about publication dates etc I will of course post them here.

Rubber Republic's Book Crossing

Love this!

Came back from holidays this morning, a little depressed and grey, to find a package from Rubber Republic  on my desk.

Inside was a copy of the seminal (but probably not read widely enough) tome, The Cluetrain Manifesto. I think that the Cluetrain is a great, provactive, insightful piece of writing. It came out when I was working in Ogilvy Interactive New York and I remember how it just seemed to encapsulate how I was thinking and feeling about digital.

Their 95 Theses were great - here are a couple:

1. Markets are conversations
2. Markets consist of human beings, not demographic sectors
3. Conversations among humans sound human. They are conducted in a human voice.

9. These networked conversations are enabling powerful forms of social organization and knowledge exhange to emerge.
10. As a result, markets are getting smarter, more informed, more organized. Participation in a networked market changes people fundamentally.

The point of this Book Crossing scheme is that I pass the book along, so much as I want to keep it (actually I just need to hunt for my original version) I will post on the book to anyone who wants it. The condition is that they need to send it on to someone else after they have finished with it.

Just let me know...

Is Google making us stupid?

I found this article before I went away on hols and just thought that it was brilliant. Its from a magazine that I don't really know, The Atlantic.

It taps into something that I often sat in jest as I am sure that you do too, "how did we manage to do our jobs before Google?"

When I think about my life and the way that I have all the information that I could possibly want at my finger tips it just amazes me to think about a world PG (Pre-Google) For example, today I had a of a particular Boris Johnson interview on The Today talking about London2012. The interview had taken place sometime overthe last 4 weeks.  There was a specific quote that I wanted for a client presentation and sure enough Google "Boris Johnson The Today Show Olympics" and the transcript comes up. Brilliant.

But the downside of all this fingertip knowledge seems to me that somehow the way that my brain works might be changing. The WAY that I now work is "jump-style". By jump-style I mean, I start with a thought, a premise or an idea. Then jump to Google. Then I jump to a link. Then jump to a video. Jump to another link. Click through, Delicious it, then jump on. I am finding it harder to concentrate on long article, as I am always skimming and jumping.

This article by Nicholas Carr talks about exactly this phenomena, except in a more beautiful way:

"And what the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation. My mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles. Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski.

I’m not the only one. When I mention my troubles with reading to friends and acquaintances—literary types, most of them—many say they’re having similar experiences. The more they use the Web, the more they have to fight to stay focused on long pieces of writing.”

I think its a great question, Is Google actually making us stupid?

We-Think: we are what we share

Sometimes you read a book and it just connects with you.

I remember years ago getting that feeling when I read The Cluetrain Manifesto for the first time and loved the thought that: "All markets are conversations" - simple genius!

I had the same feeling with Charlie Leadbetter's We-Think.

If you haven't read it,  buy a copy now or download the first chapters from his site.

It's great stuff, really well-written and persuasive. Full of analogies and examples, it is one of the best Web 2.0 tracts that I have read.  It is also an example of collaborative creativity as it was developed together with 257 We Think wiki-users, who provided fresh insights and obersvations and corroborated stories.

"The web matters because it allows more people to share ideas with more people in more ways...at its root most creativity is collaborative; it is not usually the product of a lone individuals flash of insight...our capacity for collaborative creativity will become even more powerful because the opportunities to engage are expanding...the generation who have grown up with these ideas will have as their motto: We think, therefore we are."

The central premise of "WE ARE WHAT WE SHARE" is spot on.

In the 20th century we were judged as individuals by what we owned, our material possessions.

In 21st century we will be judged both on what we produce and what we share.

"We are what we share" as it is through the recognition and esteem of others whose opinion that we value which ensures that the prorogation of ideas continue.

I was fascinated by chapter 2 in which Leadbetter explores the origin of We-Think: he describes it a peculiar mixture of the academic, the hippie, the peasant and the geek. Have a read and see if you agree.

And if you work in the comms world and don't know the story about the origins of the civil war between Apple and (as was then known) Micro-soft, have a read about the Home Brew Computer Club, you should educate yourself fast.

Just brilliant.

You've probably gathered by now, I really enjoyed this book. In fact I think that it's a must-read actually.

I would be really interested in any thoughts from other people who have read We-Think or maybe seen Charles talk at TED etc.

Ben Schott - Chatty Packaging

This weekend was a proud moment for me.

Ben Schott, an old North London friend, came over for lunch bearing gifts of very good wine and his latest book, Schott's Almanac 2008. And there on page 10, in the Words of the Year section is an entry which he says was inspired by a blog post of mine: Chatty Packaging - I Blame Innocent.

CHATTY PACKAGING: Faux-friendly marketing blurb that aspires to a casual, cheeky, and personal tone.

I am in a Ben Schott "book of the year" entry. It doesn't get much better than that.

Introducing the hip Wired Retired

   

The Spectator published "Wired, Retired and so hip it hurts" today. I hope that you enjoy it, I know that I enjoyed writing it (though conscious that it took up a bit of the weekend, so sorry Francois!)

BTW Geriatric1927 is well-worth a watch on YouTube is you haven't already discovered him.

Do let me know if you have any feedback and thoughts on the article.

Fingers crossed, but I hope that this is the start of more journalism...

100 Culture Changing Ideas

The South Bank in London has created a fascinating program of multi-media events, talks and performances called 100 Ideas.

The aim to to re-imagine the role of culture in contemporary society, exploring connections between the arts and the way that people live. Though-out the series curators will compile 100 big ideas that come out of the debates and discussions - these could be generated and uploaded online from anyone of us or will be generated out of the events, these include some high-brow events, some low-brow events and maybe even a no-brow event or two (well Jade Goody is talking at "Reality TV - The New Reality")

"Does Architecture Matter" sounded interesting and thought provoking, as did "Slave City" and the "Culture of Spin." The discussions that are starting to take place on the site need some fresh comment and input but there are some interesting debates beginning. The 100 Ideas concept is still quite new, so I guess that it might take a bit of time for people to find out about it and engage with it.

I'd love to know if anyone has been to any of the 100 Ideas evenings.

It really sounds like this is a smart, new kind of cultural event - highly integrated and inteactive to the core.

Urban Junkies are the supporting media partner. Interesting that they have gone for a smaller, but hip online partner rather than the Observer, Times, Time Out etc.

The first rule of Dining Club...

Dining Club was set up earlier this year by Richard Addis and John Torode (not the celebrity chef John Torode, the journalist John Torode, who also happens to be my dad) with the objective of getting a smart, eclectic mix of people together to discuss issues of the moment - in the past they have welcomed the likes of Ben Schott, Anna Ford, Norman Tebbit and Saira Khan. Dining Club takes place at the Gay Hussar restaurant in Soho, an old-school journo hack/politician hang out, that serves some of the best Hungarian food (and in particular the best duck) in London. 
Tonight was specifically to do with media and in particular the future of newspapers. Anthony O'Hear gave a fairly dour after-dinner speech about the fact that, paraphrasing TS Eliot, we had given up our wisdom in return for limitless, 24/7 information. (Where is the Life we have lost in living, Where is the wisdom that we have lost in knowledge, Where is the knowledge that we have lost in information) ,
It was an interesting discussion with the group seeming to split along generational lines - with one half of the room declaring that the abundance of information, so long as you can navigate through it and find the good stuff, is the perfect springboard for increased knowledge and wisdom. The other older half more anxious about the growth of the Internet , user-generated content, citizen reporters etc. To them this indicated a lessening of journalistic standards and a lessening of wise editorial control and guidance.
I don't get depressed when I see circulation numbers falling for newspapers. You just have to look at the rising readership from around the world of sites like Guardian Unlimited, www.wsj.com, www.economist.com, www.ft.com. There is still obviously a need and want for informed, edited pieces of comment and opinion but it just isn't always a paper-based  need. In addition to more traditional sources of information now found online, the Internet has opened up lines of communication between people around the world, some of them are educated and informed, some simply opinionated but all with a point of view. The fact is that if I want to know the inside scoop on new movie shooting in LA, the Beltway gossip in DC or the best new club in Brooklyn I will go to a Blog not a newspaper. To me that's exciting and positive, but to print journalists it's slightly terrifying. Eye-opening to see that there are people who really believe that the Internet and Blogs in particular are simply channels for broadcasting conspriacy theory-laden, bigoted rants.
Information is the foundation for knowledge and wisdom, not a barrier.
(BTW, There's an interesting PDF on the Data-Information-Knowledge-Wisdom hierarchy - the concept has been explored by Al Gore in Digital Earth and others) 

Dinner with Bill Bryson (and litter!)

Tonight I had the pleasure of dining with Bill Bryson at the Media Group at the Reform Club.  The Reform Club is just one of the most beautiful spaces in London, if you are lucky enough to know someone who is a member get them to invite you their for drinks and dinner (the pudding trolley is spectacular in a 19th century way) The Media Group meets every couple of months for dinner and a guest speaker.

Tonight Bill was talking about his love of the British Isles, "humour and history" apparently is what he rates most about us!

He does have a pet peeve about Britain though and that is litter. It's something that is starting to be picked up by the press, but he did ask that I pass on his personal email address ([email protected]) so that if anyone out there felt strongly litter in this country and wanted to do something about it they could get in touch with him.
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I suggested that he starts a Bill Bryson anti-litter blog and start a movement online but he said that he was too old. Never too old I tried to explain and even told him about Typepad, but to no success.

Oh well, still a lovely dinner and a great after dinner speech.