This was the big identity event that I missed while I was away. The good thing about podcasting is that you get to listen to it after it is recorded. There was a question that Doc asked John Clippinger about where he really got involved with the identity conversation…he really was a bit stumped and was like PCForum…John Clippinger and Paul Trevethick came out the Planetwork in 2004 where identity was a big topic of discussion. I met them there.
I knew that Harvard was critical to get involved in the discussion so when I found out about the conference on Internet and Society I flew out there specifically to talk at length with John about what Identity Commons and i-names. We had a great meeting in the Charles hotel for about two and a half hours. I also on that trip spoke at length with Paul and Mary.
Then when we were out at PCForum for a pre-Forum identity gang. John couldn’t make that but got there late in the day. I set up a breakfast meeting with Owen Davis, Drummond Reed and John Clipppinger to talk about identity matters including how to get support from the big players for the kind of research and dialogue needed to address the social concerns. It seems the subsequent conversations went well and they secured some funding.
So…Doc that is part of the story about how John Clippinger and the Berkman Center got involved in the identity conversation.
Identity Gang
Language is key
Listening and watching Doc’s slide show at Syndicate. It is great. One of the challenges he highlights is “Language” as a challenge in describing the new new media…
Cognitive Linguistics 101
we talk about things in the terms of other things
The REAL Matrix is the set of concepts we use to make sense of the world. We are not conscious of them. But they do our thinking and talking for us.
The Real Matrix is metaphors we talk about everything in terms of other things. We literally borrow whole vocabularies. Unconsiously.
Every Metaphor is a box of borrowed words – Concepts that frame our understanding.
Time is Money – we waste it save it spend it invest it lose it and set it aside
Life is Travel – Birth is arrival. Death is departure. Choices are crossroads and careers are paths.
What do we understand the NET in terms of …
Define broadcasting as transporting content. Not as speech.
Broadcast moves content through media. Speech happens in place.
There’s a fight going on between metaphors on the Net and the Web
- We “move” “content” through a “medium” with a “transport” protocol. So, it’s about shipping.
- We “architect,” “design,” “construct” and “build” “sites” with “addresses” and “locations” with “traffic.” So, its about real estate.
- We “write” or author” “pages and “files” of “writing that we “browse.” So, its about writing.
- We “perform” for an “audience” that has an “experience.” So it’s about theater.
The FCC does not currently view the net as a place. It sees it as a broadcasting and communications infrastructure that they should regulate. See this post…
Speech informs. It is not about delivering content. The difference is critical – information is a commodity – it is derived from the verb to inform. Which is derived from the verb to form. Meaning that we actually form each other. We are changed by what we learn from each other. Authority is the right we give each other to form and shape what we know. Much of what happens on the net is sharing and improving ideas. This is how syndication happens and how new standards and practices grow in Blogging, podcasting, tags, identity and much more…
IDENTITY GANG is highlighted as an example of the snowball that can emerge out of conversations and how snowballs form.
Doc shows us the reason internet radio was killed – government regulation. This is the kind of government regulation that drives CATO and company crazy…I am beginning to see the reason they are anti-regulation – highly complex, requires teams of lawyers to discern and ‘follow’ correctly.
How do we use language in the identity space? How can be be more conscious of the language we are choosing to use? I hope that next ID Gang and at Catalyst we can have a few deep conversations on this. It also relates to policy usability. The terms we use to describe identity sharing policies must use appropriate language (metaphor) to describe what is going on.