Bernie DeKoven responded via CoWorking.com on David Coleman’s “Twitter: Collaboration or Gossip”
David Coleman asks if Twitter is “collaboration or gossip.”
Bernie writes: “David is a friend of mine and a noted early advocate of collaborative technologies. However, I find myself surprised by his question. You’d think he’d know better”
First of all, asking if Twitter is about collaboration or gossip is like asking if the telephone is about collaboration or gossip. Twitter is a communication tool, and what it is “about” depends on what we decide to use it for. It is intelligently enough configured so we can use it pretty much how we want. Which is precisely why we use it.
And, second of all, gossip is collaboration, too”
Comments
@ 14:03
And collaborators often gossip don’t they?
@ 19:10
The meaning or effect of a technology is not in what we do with it but what it does to us.
The telephone reshaped our world. It made no difference what we were talking about - love, treason or pure babble. The ballpoint pen eliminated the need to refill a quill and made writing portable and continuous. It gave us the ability to take notes anywhere. It reduced our need to rely on our memory. These effects happened whether we were writing love letters, conspiring or doodling.