Intertwingled

Its the word of the weekend. Whether Joanna used it accidentally or if its used all the time in Birmingham circles I don’t know, however I thought it summed up perfectly the way Social Media / Web 2.0 is being used right now. Incedentally the very word has an interesting history – if you want a diversion Joanna pointed me to David Weinberger and Scott Rosenberg who write about  Ted Nelson being the originator of this very interesting word.

So, I asked a question on Twitter to Joanna Geary about the snowy weather in Birmingham and found out she lives close to where my son is at Birmingham University, a Tweet later we were talking about both knowing Nick Booth and then greater community involvement and empowerment through use of Social Media sites such as Twitter and Blogging.

This last bit got me thinking. Do I feel more a part of the community (for example my local newspaper?) if I am able to leave them blog comments and to upload Podcasts and Videocasts ? The answer is most definatley Yes … but only if I have the knowledge that there is a real person reading my thoughts and that I know there are mechanisms in place to respond to them and the confidence to know this will be done in an appropriate way. Just like the imaginary Web 2.0 party, you don’t pour out your life story over cheese and pineapple on a stick to someone who then tells the world do you?

More Intertwingling last week through the power of Twitter saw me meeting up with Emma Mulqueeny, Louise Brown and David Wilcox (all in one day!) and then Nick Booth a day later.

Too many conversations to relate in detail – about subjects as diverse as Justice for Tom, locked down school intranets and the future of membership organisations.

A particular one mentioned more than once was the merits of the HMGOV and DowningStreet twitter streams (which are here and here) and in relation to the previous paragraph – what reason are you / am I signing up to these two feeds for? Is it to get all press releases from HMGOV (useful if dull) or to feel more connected to what happens inside No. 10 (voyeuristic and dynamic)? HMGOV is a one way broadcast, DowningStreet is a conversation, but who is listening?

Life is not dull !

More intertwingling this week with visits to the North West ICT Group, the Collaborate2008 event (complete with live Twittering) and a meeting of the DC10plus team. If anyone is around Manchester, Birmingham or Bristol and wants a non-virtual coffee then Tweet me at watfordgap.

The ICT Hub website is still live if you need to get hold of any publications and resources, but keep checking the Regional Champions page or the Ruralnet website for details of the net:gain programme.