Technology Twitter

Ralph the hawtness in his new thong...

For anyone following Ralph's world journey, you might like to see his emerging new look...

Obviously he needed some thongs after a trip to Oz - otherwise he might burn his perfect feet on the sand... and he's inclined to say what he thinks too - hence his 'get your camera out of my face' request..

He still bears@documentally's photograph from his sojourn in London.  I'd like to give him some sparkle, bbut didn't want to monopolise him for next time!  To follow Ralph's travels @n96WorldTour. You can also find him on Flickr #n96WorldTour

 

 

The psychology of knowledge sharing - how a phone became a gnome

Ralph aka the hawtness (@n96worldtour) has been living with me for a week. He's not far from moving on. So what have i learnt from his stay.. First.. I love sharing my life.. Second.. There is a pressure to sharing a life online:
What if its incredibly dull to people..
What if other people's lives are more interesting than mine..
Who is watching..
What kind of footprint will i leave?

Why do i feel so guilty when i don't update.. Once i'm behind, why do i feel that i can only post something awesome to return with a bang!

Its a bit like being a teenager again..
Why is this important?

Because creating environments where people (other than geeks) feel comfortable sharing information is vital to connected organisations.. Because at the moment we connect as individuals and mainly connect with other people with our skills..

Just suppose we take as given that shared intimacies contribute to greater knowledge sharing efficacy. I.e that knowing what someone had for dinner makes you more likely to see them as a 3d person with whom you will share than if they are a name on a page..

I love to share information and am comfortable in online spaces.. And i feel uncertainty. How can we create structures that support newbies, address their fears and address the psychology of online connected-ness.

Having a shared phone has helped here.. Instead of my updates being isolated they are contributing to a shared global story.. what if a division had a shared phone.. A gripe phone for recording grrrr moments. A wish list of improvements.. A focus for weekly meetings.. 'Here is this weeks' story..' by sharing a device every participant and their connections can collaborate on a perspective.. So simple - but effective?

So. My phone has become a gnome.. Demanding, a little bit magic.. And more than a shiny gadget.

n96 aka Ralph the Hawtness - shares photos etc

I have renamed the travelling n96 Ralph - I tried to call him a female name, but it just didn't suit his black shadeness - Thought I'd share what he's been up to recently... oooh - and of course - the most important things following a morning hobnobbing with the bigwits..(oops wigs...)

One Nokia N96, one suitcase, one world tour, lots of places, one story...

Charlie Schick from Nokia has recently started his N96 World Tour, with the phone starting off with @solobasssteve in London.

A few weeks back I wondered what would happen if a phone went hand to hand, streaming wherever it was, slowly accumulating a story of its own travel. Part of this was inspired by The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants  (of which I've watched a trailer) and Flat Stanley (which my children both participated in). But, also, part of this was wanting to tie together a bunch of interesting people I have met and known, over the past few years, with something fun.

Peeking through curtains!

Well having wondered, the phone in it's travelling pack arrived in Perth this morning.  It's been so much fun having a sneak peek into someone else's life. 

It was so much fun to get a phone complete with snippets, conversations, photos and snatches and fragments from a life on the other side of the planet.

I've been watching the phone's progress on Ovi   I must admit to some parochialism as an ex-Londoner, I wanted to see how things were...  In fact, I kind of had a mini-phone love in to see if there were any dusty smelly London vibes left! 

I've recently spent a lot of time wondering about data, fragmentation and stories.  David Snowden and Derek Featherstone amongst others have prompted me to think about narrative as a means of connecting fragments.  Stephen Poliakoff's drama also had me pondering the randomness of events tied into meaning by narrative..  Odd combinations I know, but isn't that what's so wonderful about this web world... 

Get on with it.....

Alright ok..  What's the connection between phone world tours and random events given meaning by the storyteller.. To me it's all about the shared device.  I LOVE the idea of a gadget touring the world gathering fragments.  Each recipient adds layers, stories and meaning to create a complex international story.  The phone is just the 'memory box' storing fragments.  It's a microcosm of our wonderful web, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it grows. Let's play Homer and the Oddysey and interpret the world through the gadget...

To play...follow, and add your bits.. add the N96 to your feeds: 

- N96 World Tour on Share on Ovi
- N96 World Tour on Twitter

Oh yes, and #Perth - send your stories :)