Social Whatever

I really enjoyed reading this article by Andrew Orlowski. I have to admit the cliquish nature of this social software group, a number of them now at O’Reilly’s ETCon. is a bit ironic. It seems like there are a number of little camps studying the same thing with little crossover among them. Not even a few weak links to form strong ties. It would be as if the blind men who discovered the elephant then each went their separate way and refused to discuss it with each other.

I would love to see those at the emerging tech conference get together with some others who seem to be investigating the same territory. I’ve linked to a number of them in posts under my topic of “social informatics.” Collaboration among those approaching the elephant from different angles always leads to the most innovative work IMHO.

At the end of the IA summit we were asked to look around and see who wasn’t there. What disciplines were missing? Who do we look to that we would like to see there next year? It’s that sort of inclusive nature that insures that a field stays around and doesn’t stagnate. We all then joined hands and sang Kum Ba Ya.