Everything Is Recorded

My use of social media Seesmic is altering the way I dream. There is a reason for my becoming involved in this nascent community, aside from the fact that I find such early-stage communities fascinating. I seem to have connected with a group of likeminded people whom I wouldn't have minded meeting in any situation, it's as simple as that.

March 30th is, we are told, the lifting of the alpha-veil, the grand opening of the gates, and the moment which this sometimes cliquey and self-defensive bunch is in some measure dreading, and recently there have been self-reflective discussions about whether this will spell the inevitable downward spiral, YouTube style, for the site.
Maybe, maybe, and only time will tell whether the policies of community care (I love that, it sounds like we are all deranged) which have borne fruit so far will work as Seesmic is scaled up. There is always noise in any system; success depends on the ration of noise to conversation, as much as it does on the level(s) of discourse available. One of the delightful things about Seesmic for me is that I can simultaneously be deeply serious and childishly playful, which is exactly how my mind works.

If Seesmic plunges inexorably downmarket, it will not fail, though it will become a very different kind of social event. Given that users can re-create smaller Seesmic spaces within the system, which suit the conversations that they want to have, this might benefit many people, especially those shy ones who lack the courage to leap into the sometimes hurly-burly of the ever-increasing speed of the pubic timeline and speak from the heart, those sensitive intellectuals who wish to carefully tease out a subtle idea, or just folks who articulate clumsily and don't want to be derided for their pains.

Attractive though the unified single space is, using Twitter as an example, since when did anyone try to use that highly populated public timeline as a resting place? It would be like trying to recline on an avalanche, a total impossibility. To keep the junk levels down, it would seem that some elementary tools are required, including the ability to create private groups, separate timelines, and to block individuals who insist on saying "Hitler" whenever they show up before the garden is opened up to a million happy picnickers.

Meanwhile, the dream. I dreamed I was on the phone to a certain well-known podcaster... and oh, the air turned blue. What I don't say in this Seesmic is that I walked about for the first few minutes of today in the mistaken belief that it had actually happened. So, perhaps everything IS recorded, and perhaps Seesmic is indeed real life.

Be Prepared For Funk

I'm working on the final edition of Pod of Funk for 2007, and below is a brief Seesmic video on that painstaking process. You can find more of these videos on Twitter, where I have established a Seesmic-only feed: http://twitter.com/deek.

On Seesmic

I've never been one for mindless bandwagon-jumping. I look askance at people who attempt to glow beautifully under the rapidly passing headlights of this or that technology bus. My skin tone and moral complexion don't need to look good, thanks to a deal I made with the Great Genie of Personal Confidence back in 1988. I simply cannot look any better. At all times, thanks to the excellent bargain I made, I am bathed in good light without the need of buses or other transportation. But, I do get curious from time to time, and I hop on board to see what the journey is about.

I've been intrigued by the flurry of internet business start-ups in 2007, and particularly those looking to do something around the phenomenon which has become known as social media which for various reasons is where I now spend a lot of my time, but I'm choosy about keeping my online life de-cluttered. I joined Twitter end of 2006 to see what all the fuss was about, and it took me a while before I saw the value of it, rather than just seeing novelty. I joined Jaiku and a few other Web 2.0 sites to explore them and judge them all against one other; they all work slightly differently, but the question is, differently enough to make a difference? Much as the conventional, older parts of the internet, blogging, forums, have done, I made new friends via Twitter, and I also found I was maintaining and deepening existing friendships. In the end, I find value (or not) in the context of my real, everyday life - you know, the smell of sex, and all that.

A while back I noticed (via Twitter) that several of my friends were using Seesmic, a new web-based video blogging tool, still as yet in Alpha, i.e. not public, and in the process of being constructed. There's a best of Seesmic on YouTube called Seesmix. My curiosity piqued, I recently asked Loic Le Meur the man behind Seesmic for a look, and he kindly let me see what the fuss was all about.

I once described Twitter as "community text radio" when trying to get the point of its rolling 140 character commentaries and quips across to someone recently. Seesmic is more like community video chat, contributions arriving on a permanently unfolding roll, content uncensored conversational and spontaneous, with multi-threaded memes running back and forth organically.

At the moment, the site seems pretty much based on webcam moments - a lot of people in front of their laptops - with the option of converting videos to flash before uploading. Like Twitter and Flickr, Seesmic has a combination of public and private settings - you can choose to follow people, you can also watch the public timeline. I like that it integrates into other useful popular internet applications like Twitter and Skype, so by following the Twitter stream (which has RSS, so you can subscribe to it like a blog or a podcast) you can, if so moved, watch videos as they come in.

I prefer to film on location and on the move, as anyone who has witnessed DeekDeekster.com will know - I am a big fan of pocket video. As soon as I have a WiFi phone with a decent web browser and good video capability that can plug into its web interface, I can see this being really useful for me. Better for spontaneous short-form video than sites like Blip or BlogTV, more about conversations than egotistical display à la YouTube, and unlike Facebook, not claiming your work's copyright by default, I can really see this addition to the new mediasphere catching on.

Check out my meandering muse on Seesmic here.