I finished reading Jeff Jarvis’s lastest book on my way to IKEA last weekend. I don’t have a license yet so I had to resort to using public transit to get there. It’s a long journey (over an hour) but I don’t mind it since it gives me long, uninterrupted time to read. IKEA isn’t as enjoyable though, at least not on weekends. Trying to push a gigantic metal cart into the joyless Saturday mob is not my idea of a good time. Resting my ass in my new plastic throne definitely is!
Right.
I understood something critical about social media when reading What Would Google Do:
- Communities don’t get created – they already exist.
- To cater to the need of a community, you need to bring them elegant organization.
It makes so much sense that it is disarming. Not long ago I just assumed that you could build a community and get people to join it. Now that idea seems silly and condescending – communities won’t necessarily come to you, and if they do, it will be because you are enabling them to get organized elegantly. Facebook and Twitter are leading the social media train, both offering platforms where users can share and communicate. They help them build the tools they need by enabling third-party applications or by opening up their code. Basically they don’t assume to know how communities will behave – instead they let them lead the way while catering to their needs.
Don’t take a community for granted (or a lover for that matter).
Jeff Jarvis spends a lot of time in What Would Google Do analyzing and explaining how Google is leading a new economy based mostly on the immaterial. Come to think of it, Google doesn’t sell cars, flowers or insurance policies. It distributes ads while learning about ourselves in our most intimate details, making it more knowledgeable about our needs, habits and desires. Google’s example is fascinating – Jeff Jarvis does a great job illustrating it in his book. Well worth reading!