Wednesday, November 18. 2009
Stephen Fry on Twitter being "Human", not "Machine" Shaped
Stephen Fry, as quoted on Techblorge
This was from his turn at the Exploring the State of Now 140 Conference ( didn't go, there have been so many "140" type conferences in London recently and this one was charging silly money to see the same old crowd )
I get that celebrities can disintermediate their own media circusses, but I must say I am intrigued by the notion of it being "human" shaped rather than "business" shaped (given that what he just described before seems very business shaped to me). Plays well to the Social Media kool aid drinkers I'm sure, but I'm danged if I know what he really meant - so I asked Twitter for some thoughts and here they came:
Update - check out the very smart comments.....
I'm afraid I've probably been around too long and have hype-o-chondria but I'm on @loudmouthman's side - I can see nothing in its architecture that says its "human shaped" per se (although maybe in its flexibility its human shaped), but its full of people who believe it is (or full of business people who want peeply weoply people to believe it?) and use it for human things. I suppose its human shaped in that when I type an Intention into a box on Twitter I get a multiplicity of conflicting answers
If you liked this post, don't forget to vote for Broadstuff for the British BIMAs 2009 Best Blog Award . If you hated it, vote anyway.....
Like with the printing press, Twitter [has] changed the situation. People like me, Twillionaires, we can cut out the press from our PR requirements. It used to be a pact with the devil. You wanted to inform the press about a new film and they said they will interview you, but only if they are allowed to ask you around other themes about your private life.
Today, Britney Spears tells her PR manager, ‘Why should I care about this journalist of this newspaper with a big circulation? I will reach their circulation just by typing into my keyboard.’ So well, whole newspapers are on the one side filled with resentment against Twitter, on the other side they are using it and searching Twitter messages.
Twitter is about participating – by which I mean you tweet and read other people’s tweets. Then you understand it, and get its rhythm. But remember: It is about being authentic. These things are human-shaped.
It is important for all of us to understand its [Twitter’s] nature. It is human shaped, not business shaped. And the swell will move elsewhere if you try to make it all neat and attractive. The greatness and the magnitude of its energy will all move.
This was from his turn at the Exploring the State of Now 140 Conference ( didn't go, there have been so many "140" type conferences in London recently and this one was charging silly money to see the same old crowd )
I get that celebrities can disintermediate their own media circusses, but I must say I am intrigued by the notion of it being "human" shaped rather than "business" shaped (given that what he just described before seems very business shaped to me). Plays well to the Social Media kool aid drinkers I'm sure, but I'm danged if I know what he really meant - so I asked Twitter for some thoughts and here they came:
@kevinmarks - with google you type an intention into a box and expect a machine; with twitter you type an emotion and expect a human (Kevin has blogged his thoughts here)
@DT - Er.... human not business...? just submitting a support ticket....(see David's reply in teh comments below)
@hyuz - StephenFry reminded us that people tweet in chatter style . Its not 'designed' for business so biz must engage on same level.
@loudmouthman - well its made up of wibbly-wobbly peoply-weoply type stuff which might explain that better !
and...
....twitter isnt Human Shaped or Business shaped. Its Keyboard shaped.
Update - check out the very smart comments.....
I'm afraid I've probably been around too long and have hype-o-chondria but I'm on @loudmouthman's side - I can see nothing in its architecture that says its "human shaped" per se (although maybe in its flexibility its human shaped), but its full of people who believe it is (or full of business people who want peeply weoply people to believe it?) and use it for human things. I suppose its human shaped in that when I type an Intention into a box on Twitter I get a multiplicity of conflicting answers
If you liked this post, don't forget to vote for Broadstuff for the British BIMAs 2009 Best Blog Award . If you hated it, vote anyway.....
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I can see where his Fryness is coming from ...
(& this may be unfair, since I didn't hear the full context of his speech: could we have this as a Podgram, please Mr F!)
But 'human' could mean "a single, scentient being, in command of its environment", or it could mean " a herd, as in cattle" cf the city of London for herd-like behaviour
I guesss that the ideal use of Twitter for business would be the former (scentient being) directing the latter (herd)?
(& this may be unfair, since I didn't hear the full context of his speech: could we have this as a Podgram, please Mr F!)
But 'human' could mean "a single, scentient being, in command of its environment", or it could mean " a herd, as in cattle" cf the city of London for herd-like behaviour
I guesss that the ideal use of Twitter for business would be the former (scentient being) directing the latter (herd)?
I think Twitter is shaped by humans, rather than shaped by business would be a more accurate way of describing it.
The various ways in which we use Twitter were not really envisioned by Biz et al, and as the people got their first, business users have to conform to our rules of use, rather than creating their own.
The various ways in which we use Twitter were not really envisioned by Biz et al, and as the people got their first, business users have to conform to our rules of use, rather than creating their own.
The tone reminded me very much of Thought For The Day on Radio 4, or an Archbishop's Christmas message, holding up "humanness" against homogenising or callous forces. The - somewhat meatier and more interesting - stuff about disintermediation wasn't really relating to the human stuff.
It was a keynote, and its lack of specifics meant it worked as such - people throughout the day kept referring back to "human-shaped" and "human".
It was a keynote, and its lack of specifics meant it worked as such - people throughout the day kept referring back to "human-shaped" and "human".
Thank you for the mention above. The key point is that businesses are to avoid spamming people with offers / advertisments / sales if they are to engage with the twitterverse.
"Twitter is human shaped" simply means i will only engage with a human on twitter, and i will not engage with a brand.
Practically for a business, this means represent your brand as a human: explain who the human who runs the account is.
Sign off tweets as "John" or "John from Nike" but not "Nike Service".
You can read more at the site: http://socialmediaguy.co.uk
Many thanks,
Geoff
"Twitter is human shaped" simply means i will only engage with a human on twitter, and i will not engage with a brand.
Practically for a business, this means represent your brand as a human: explain who the human who runs the account is.
Sign off tweets as "John" or "John from Nike" but not "Nike Service".
You can read more at the site: http://socialmediaguy.co.uk
Many thanks,
Geoff
I too didn't hear the full content of his talk, so I'm lacking a bit of context.
Does technology shape people or do people shape technology? Obviously a mix of both; and noting that, I'd side with you and Nicholas that there is nothing of the architecture that aligns it with either "humans" or "businesses". It's either, depending on how it's used. It might be more human shaped at the moment, simply because of its evolution path, but there's no reason to think that will always be the case.
Does technology shape people or do people shape technology? Obviously a mix of both; and noting that, I'd side with you and Nicholas that there is nothing of the architecture that aligns it with either "humans" or "businesses". It's either, depending on how it's used. It might be more human shaped at the moment, simply because of its evolution path, but there's no reason to think that will always be the case.
Cheers for the mention as one of your early responders (@DT)...
My first question was "what does he mean by business shaped?" and thinking about it subsequently, I actually think it's collaboration shaped. I like will rowan bringing up individual versus the herd, because the herd effect can definitely come in to play in the Twitter response too. But on business shaped, we've got everything from large to small, heavy structured process to knowledge based, hierarchical to network centric, so what is business shaped? It's true that Twitter is great for breaking down hierarchy and facilitating network centric collaboration. I think his shorthand needed some more explanation/questioning.
My first question was "what does he mean by business shaped?" and thinking about it subsequently, I actually think it's collaboration shaped. I like will rowan bringing up individual versus the herd, because the herd effect can definitely come in to play in the Twitter response too. But on business shaped, we've got everything from large to small, heavy structured process to knowledge based, hierarchical to network centric, so what is business shaped? It's true that Twitter is great for breaking down hierarchy and facilitating network centric collaboration. I think his shorthand needed some more explanation/questioning.
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