Isn’t it incredible that the Web has afforded us the ability to find any bit of information we desire? It’s all at our fingertips; at any given time, we are mere moments from having the answers we seek about just about anything. Not only that, but the social Web has given us an extra layer, one that has become so ingrained in our online world that it’s easy to miss – the culture of recommendation.

No longer do we have to waste precious seconds calling up Google, typing in keywords and browsing through countless search results. No, now we can just crowdsource everything we need! Want to know what movie you should see this weekend? Ask Facebook. What should you eat for dinner tonight? Yelp knows! Should you wear the pink sweater or the blue one? You don’t have to decide – you can just ask Twitter!

This doesn’t just happen when we crowdsource our lives. The culture of recommendation has permeated every aspect of our online existence. Ads appear on sites you surf based on your browsing history. Tools like GetGlue and even YouTube incorporate sophisticated recommendation engines that push content to you based on the things you like. Many people see this as a good thing. It’s the personalization of content, serving up the things the system thinks you’ll dig, and pointing out and making recommendations on what you should consume.

Recommendations may make the WWW go round, but at what point are we simply shutting down our own opinions in lieu of what everyone else thinks? Sure, I love to hear what my friends have to say about stuff as much as the next person, but is it possible that we’re taking the opinions of our friends too far? Are we losing sight of our own preferences, our own tastes, our own values, because we think everyone else knows better?

What happens when our online experience starts to become based solely on content that is fed to us because at some point previously, someone (or some computer program) thought we’d be interested and recommended it to us? At what point do we simply shut down our own desire to seek out new things, and just decide to be passively spoon-fed, much in the same way that mass media spoon fed us back in the old days?

It seems to me, that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

What say you?

[photo credit: scribbletaylor on Flickr]

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“Every person is a new door to a different world.”
– from the play/movie “Six Degrees of Separation”

I am blessed to know many people and have many people, both online and off, who I consider to be good friends. Some of these friends I have known seemingly forever – since public school. Others I’ve known for the past 20 years or so that I’ve been a “grownup”. Still others I’ve met only in the past couple of years. Some people I consider friends are people I’ve never even met face to face.

As I’ve gotten older, my definition of what makes for a real friendship has changed. When I was a little kid, my best friend was the one who I could play Barbies with for hours on end without getting bored. When I was a teenager, my friends were the girls I could talk with on the phone for hours about the cutest boy or the coolest music. As a young adult, my closest friends were the ones I would stay out with, whooping it up till all hours of the night and morning. Now, in my mid late thirties, my friends are the people who I rely on most, to share good times and bad. They are the people who enrich my life with their wisdom, kindness, generosity and love.

I’ve come to the realization that the reason I’ve been so blessed to have so many amazing friends is at least partially due to the fact that I try to be a good friend to them too. You see, REAL friendship – I’m talking the non-ego, unconditional, no strings attached, giving, loving type of friendship – is a two way street.

With events like the Shorty Awards, which aims to praise those people who are doing well at social media, I figured I’d share some of the reasons why I think being a good friend makes you good at social media.

It Feels Good to Help
In any friendship, there are times when your friends need help. As a good friend, you step up to the plate, and do whatever you can to assist. You do it without thinking about what’s in it for you. And when it’s over, you feel good that you were able to do your part. Sometimes, you are the one that needs the help. If you’ve been a good and helpful friend, you’ll find that, without question, your friends are now ready to step up and lend a hand to you. That’s what real friendship is about.

In your social networks, what kind of friend are you? Are you helping out when it’s needed, without expecting anything in return? Are you asking for help when you need it, without being too demanding? Find that balance of helping when you can, and asking for help when you need it. You’ll feel great, and your online experience will be richer for it.

For Good Times, and Bad Times
Ah, the 80′s. A time of bad hairstyles, worse clothes, and Dionne Warwick and Friends. OK, so the song was a bit over the top and cheesy (hey, it WAS the 80′s), but its message was clear. Real friends are friends no matter what – when times are good, it’s great. When times get tough, friends stick together.

As we head on into 2009, I am so optimistic about the possibilities that lie ahead. I’m excited to be involved in collaborations with amazing, talented people like Danny Brown and Kathryn Jennex. I’ve got some business opportunities that are going to change things in a big way. I’ll be teaching college students about new media and social media, and loving every minute of it. At the same time, the economic climate is far from perfect, and this is going to present some unique challenges for all of us. But I am a firm believer that there is strength in numbers. Together, we can celebrate all the good that has come to us through social media, and we can be there for each other as we go through our various struggles. It’s a comfort to know that I have so many people that are part of my online life, who are there for me, just as I am for them, no matter what the future holds.

Social media has changed the way we view friendship. It’s amazing how close I feel to some people; people I’ve never even met face to face! Those that don’t spend a lot of time in social networks may find this a hard concept to grasp. I guess what it comes down to is that this online space is inherently a place of open communication and sharing. The fact that we are able to nurture these aspects of human relationships here naturally lends itself to the creation of valuable and lasting friendships. And that’s a pretty powerful thing.

In what ways are you a good friend?

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I’m reading Daniel H. Pink’s book “A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future”. In it, Pink presents some really compelling reasons why we are moving out of the Information Age of the last half of the 20th century and into the Conceptual Age, where success is going to be less based on “book smarts” or left-brained thinking and more based on high concept, high touch right-brained skills like design and creative writing.

This excellent book ties in nicely to some recent observations I’ve made.

We have three co-op students working with us right now, they attend Algonquin College’s Interactive Multimedia Developer program. In addition, we have a video editor/shooter freelancing with us, he is a recent grad of the Television Broadcasting Program at Loyalist College. Coincidentally, I am a graduate of both programs. I graduated in 1990 from the TV Broadcasting Program and 1997 from the Multimedia Program. Aside from tremendously dating myself with that claim, the comparison between where I was at upon graduation from these courses and where these guys are at is quite remarkable.

The work that these recent grads are able to produce is impressive, to say the least. They design, shoot and edit like people who have been in the business for years, and their work ethic is terrific. They take initiative and are excellent problem solvers. I would have no issue with leaving them in a room full of clients to represent us.

I’ve been wondering what is so different about these guys. Why did I seem so unprepared when I graduated from college? And the other day it dawned on me. These young guys were born in the late 1980s. When computers and the internet started to get popular in 1996-98, these kids were only about 10 years old. That means that they have been using computers and the Internet for a large portion of their lives. They are of the generation that learned about web site design in high school. And, they have probably always had access to some sort of video recording equipment, be it their parents’ Handycam or a camera at their high school.

By comparison, my first computer course was offered when I was in 10th grade, and it was pretty useless (BASIC programming and WordPerfect version 1.2). Personal video cameras in those days cost about $2000 and weren’t really marketed to the average consumer. Serious hobbyists like my Dad were the only ones that bought them, which was fortunate for me as a budding TV producer at the ripe old age of 15. My brother first showed me the Internet in 1996, when I was 26 years old and had already had 1 career under my belt.

My point is, young people today are FAR more experienced with technology by the time they hit college because they have been dealing with it their whole lives. These days, college really only serves to streamline their knowledge, give them some practice and issue them a piece of paper – still good things to have, but definitely a different spin than when I was in college.

What does this mean as an employer? When I graduated from TV school there was NO WAY I would have gotten any more than a gofer job at a network TV station. Nowadays, students are graduating from college and jumping right in to decent entry level jobs at good agencies doing real design, development and production work. Why? Because the average college graduate, at 22 years of age, probably already has 10 or 12 years of experience working with computers, designing their own web sites and making their own videos. As time goes on, this trend will become even more obvious. Why? because I expect my 7 year old nephew to start making his own web site any day – and he’s already a better cameraperson than me.

It’s not just the Conceptual Age, people…it’s the Conceptual Generation.

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This is a great article from mediacollege.com containing tips and techniques on how to interview people well. A good resource for anyone doing interviews for podcasts, documentaries or other media projects.

If there’s anything I’ve learned after 18 years of producing media in various forms, it’s that a good interview can make or break a piece. I’ve worked with some super-talented on-air people over the years and I learned almost everything I know about interviewing from them. Why? Because they were able to quickly establish a rapport with their subjects and draw out precisely the information that was needed for the piece.

These techniques are not difficult to learn, but they are crucial to the success of your projects.

Anyone have a great interviewing tip they want to share? Please comment!

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About 10 years ago, I used to hang out at a little pub in my neigbourhood. It was walking distance from my house, and I would say that I was probably there at least 2 or 3 times a week. Often more. Sometimes I’d just stop in after work for half an hour, sometimes I’d be there the whole evening.

At the time, I was single, lived alone, and was extremely independent. I worked hard at my job and I liked it. I had plenty going for me, so you would think that slumming around some bar was not exactly a healthy thing to be doing so often. But hanging out there had very little to do with drinking for me.

I’d walk in this place and no matter what time of day it was, there was always someone there that I knew. I could strike up a conversation with anyone. We talked about everything. Neigbourhood gossip, world events, local news, or just what was going on in our lives. If I was having a bad day, I could show up there, chit chat with one of my bar buddies and inevitably I’d feel better. If I had a problem, there ways always someone there who could listen and help.

It was the kind of place where everyone was accepted for who they were. There were the loud and boisterous types who always just wanted to have a good time, nothing too serious. There was the kinda creepy but harmless guy at the end of the bar who just sat, observing what was going on around him. There were the essentials, the barflys who always sat on the same stool, drinking the same kind of beer, who spent the afternoons and evenings holding court. And there were those who you could grab a table with and spend hours having enlightening conversations.

Sure, there were conflicts. Heated conversation would sometimes lead to arguments, fueled by beer. Someone would hear about a situation that happened to a regular and the gossip mill would start to grind in a big way. Everybody would spend days talking about it, but eventually it would fade away.

This little pub was my community in those days. It was someplace I could go and feel like I was contributing, engaging with other people, and it was piles of fun. Sure, I had a life outside that place – lots of friends who weren’t from there, a great family and a work life that was completely separate. But I always knew my community was there, that I could drop into any time I liked, and that I’d be welcome.

Not unlike the online social network, don’t you think?

Photo by mindexpansi0n at MorgueFile.

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