Apr 15, 2009
Nothing is free
I’ve just started a new project called “Social Psycho” which has been influenced by some of Breitenbach’s thinking and some of the things that I’ve encountered over the course of the last couple of months. I’d thought you might find it interesting to find out what’s behind the project.
Nothing is free. Everything costs something even if that something isn’t actually money. At the heart of what someone at sometime called “web 2.0″ is the idea that everything is free, which is initially sounds great but if you actually think about it is actually quite horrid for even if you don’t actually make a credit card transaction you pay, in kind, with your most precious belonging - yourself. You pay with you personal data, and lulled into the general loveliness of this “new web” you’re more than happy to give this personal data to complete and utter strangers.
Now, I’ll leave all of the “experts” out there to argue the toss about whether or not this is “permission” (please note that these so called experts are still referring to that age old work of Mr Godin - even after all of these years) because, quite frankly, that’s just to dull. This isn’t a marketing or business issue. It’s a cultural issue.
The passing on of personal data has become, or is becoming a central factor in this our nutty post-post modern society and is in fact the motor of online life. The failure or success of an online platform is dependent upon the willingness of people to give up their personal data and then drag their friends onto the platform to do exactly the same.
This is what we call “sharing”.
We share photographs of our lives, we microblog our lives, we make connections, we poke, we inform entire networks of people what we think is interesting. We let everyone see our current location through GPS coordinates and through services like dopplr we can tell everyone where we will be traveling too next.
And on it goes. On it pushes. It’s cool. People with massive networks gain something called “influence” and they celebrate it too but this influence comes at a great cost - for they have spread their “data” everywhere.
As I’ve said above, this isn’t a business or a marketing issue it’s a cultural issue and I happen to think it’s quite alarming and I’d be interested to hear any thoughts you may have on the matter.
Sharing stuff is great because that’s what civilisation is about. Even if it is a rather primitive civilisation like, say, an ape colony or a microblogging community.
But I’m not sure about this “personal” data thing. I (usualy) watch my personal data and only share, what I’d like to have in return: Funny things that happen on the train or in the pub or elswhere.
I’ve been on the internet since ‘95 and I’m one of those old-school-anonymous-guys. As you know I’m not strictly anonymous, but I’m scared when I see how much information the so called digital natives share on the net. Do they know what they do? I’d rather think, this is a “inbetween” generation: The first one that shares everything - and the last. Because they will teach their children: Don’t. Or at least: Think twice before you do.
Youst like microsoft (?) wants employes who are acting on the internet to keep in mind: Don’t be stupid. Always a good advice.
(Sorry for the typos and particulary being off-toppic, blame it on the beer. Thank god I’m anonymous. Sort of.)
until and unless there is a cataclysmic event, preferably a serial murder web2.0 stalking case with gruesomely mutilated bodies or door to door searches and incarcerations of people based on their data2.0, i find it highly unlikely that the great digitally unwashed are going to grasp the logic of boolean data-mining operations.
i’ve been telling people time and again that it is the sum of all patterns of digitally chartable behavior what makes them loose their privacy.
it’s just too abstract and frankly these people don’t give a fuck beyond their immediate social environment.
i for one will thoroughly enjoy watching them getting their comeuppance.
This is something that troubles me and I’ve been thinking about. There is a constant call to be “transparent” around these parts, but I often wonder what that really means and at what cost. It is said that transparency is about honesty, but I’m not sure it is about that.
It also troubled me that it was really hard to not just deactivate my facebook account, but try and find a way to delete it - have it gone forever. It troubles me not only what you say about yourself online is always there, but also what others say - I hated those stupid comments on my facebook wall from idiots who didn’t think who else may see it - things that may be hurtful to other people, or make me out in a way I wasn’t happy with. I know there is a call for my clients to be happy to “give up control” of their image on-line, but I cant say that to them, because I don’t want to give up control of MY image - why should I be preaching to them something I’m not comfortable with either.
I agree - this isn’t just some sort of web 2.0 marketing theory - it’s going to have a bigger impact (and for some people already has).
“Don’t be stupid.”
We are all stupid for god’s sake. We are apes not bots.
BTW I so don’t like the idea pushing “bad things”. I’m a believer of memetics and karmastuff.
But I love the genius idea behind.
Marcus,
The thoughts running thru my brain as you write this are as follows:
- Doc Searls “vendor relationship mgt” notion encourages us to own our own data.
- This is a big cultural change - probably as big as the shift to cities that accompanied the industry revolution.
- Erving Goffman’s stuff about the presentation of self in everyday life is very important here (who coincidentally popped up in a Chris Locke rant that whizzed thru my inbox this morning).
- The idea of “noise” in information systems is very important. We view “noise” as something to be eliminated but really it is something that requires cultivation. Proliferation even*.
We have never been able to completely own or control our identities. We are the sum of our secrets so we should be careful what we give away.
*Michel Serres has written some pretty awesome stuff on this but this comment is turning into a reading list.
[...] mitten in ein System getaucht und verrichte dort meine Arbeit. Brown folgt mit seinem Projekt “Social Psycho” ähnlich umfangreiche und spannende Pfade. We do [...]
Hi,
Social Psycho, definately an interesting project.
I am working in a Marketing Agency and by doing that i guess i did actually turn into some sort of social Psycho, at least Webwise. All my friends and colleagues are either on Facebook, Lokalisten, Twitter, Xing and the likes, in many cases they are even registered in all of these networks.
… so a while ago at the beginning of web 2.0 i was full of enthusiasm to get registered about everywhere because it was so new and interesting. Then came the time when i googled myself and decided that i am well too known throughout the world. I was in shock seeing how many results i got on google. So i deleted almost everything and try not to register anywhere, not to pay with credit cards, not to buy online, not to send fotos via email ect, things like that. Yes i am a social psycho and maybe working in marketing and knowing what all is being done with such data is the course for it.
When i was young
Anyway, u asked for my email, what exactly is that required for? and isnt that some sort adress generating too?
Thanks and Bye
Chris