John Peters, in his book, Speaking into Air, claims that “in the age of electronic media, [communication] has become the art of reaching across the intervening spirits to touch another’s body (p.225),” and I could not agree with him more.  

As the talented Erin McKeown sings: “there is hope in poetry, comfort in fiction.” There is, indeed, pleasure in the physicality involved in creating something heartfelt, even as simple as a webcam video of you attempting to sing, and then sharing that with others. That pleasure is only surpassed at the moment it generates a physical response in another, the moment were the bodies in the medium are moved to action. The soaring popularity of Kutiman’s videos clearly attest to that. Kutiman was moved to create an amazing project in six movements joining lots of people in their private act of music creation and connecting their efforts.  

We all want to feel a sense of connectedness and belonging. Even when we are singing loud in the shower, we are hoping someone is listening. What Kutiman created here is an extraordinary moment of someone from the apartment next door joining in your shower-singing in a duet across the walls the separates you. 

While there is comfort in ambient presence, the real potential for social media is when the electronic connectedness finds a way to generate a visceral response. 

The crowd was not wise on its own, it needed a human filter to cut through the noise, see a potential, and realize it.  I encourage you to check out the full project with links to the source videos at Thru-You.com.

crossposted at armyoffools.net

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• February 4, 2010 — Online Media Democracy Is Still Under Construction, or Why Engadget Had to Flip the Switch on Comments (14)
• June 4, 2009 — YouTweetFace (1)
• May 2, 2009 — Twitter & Skype classroom coverage of Paul Gillin (4)
• March 21, 2009 — “The current (news) meltdown is just a warm up act.” (0)
• March 6, 2009 — Journalism on the Brink: Video (11)

Google’s Flu Trend graph is remarkably similar to surveillance data garnered by the CDC:

Flu trends is a very interesting concept, not only because it improves on current surveillance systems, but also because it’s not relying on conscious user participation. In an alternative model drawing upon social participation, people report in a flu tracker that they’re sick; those reports are then mapped. An example of such a tool is Whoissick.org.

Such systems are hard to implement in a way that provides accurate results, because in order for them to work, a vastly higher percentage of people would need to participate than currently participate in any Web 2.0 activity. Especially when you’re sick, the noble act of alerting other people may escape your fogged up brain.

But searching for health information related to flu symptoms is already natural user behavior. Google’s Flu Trend and doesn’t require any additional conscious effort on the part of the sick crowd.

What other ways could search query trends be harnessed to provide similar services based on the unconscious wisdom of the crowd, in the health domain or elsewhere?

Related Posts

• September 3, 2010 — Storytelling, the new Studio System and the “Death” of the Web (4)
• November 3, 2009 — New Income Streams for the Digital D-I-Y Musician (9)
• June 4, 2009 — YouTweetFace (1)
• May 2, 2009 — Twitter & Skype classroom coverage of Paul Gillin (4)
• March 13, 2009 — The Potential of the Crowd – The Case of Kutiman (1)