Networked Life, Networked Work
When publishing and group forming is
free
Ton Zijlstra, PolitCamp Graz, May 2008

Talking points
New infrastructures
A typical working day
Quantitative changes, qualitative answers
It’s not just technological, it’s societal

1. Mobile Communications

2. Internet

A typical working day

Getting up....
Check e-mail
on mobile

niet: bronnen
Breakfast, 300 ppl

Breakfast
.... first presence updates (laptop
and mobile)

Project spaces with clients

During commute
What are they talking about today?

During commute

Arriving at location...
...I share my location.

plazes.com

With the client...

On the road...

MindMeister.com

Work together = Create together

Back home...
... my laptop shares my
location...
while I do an interview….
…in Second Life

...bookmarking things from todo list.

Creating a presentation...

Sharing the result immediately
...Slides are on-line for this presentation too.
http://slideshare.net/tonzijlstra

Write a blogpost

Share future loc (PIC REPLACE WITH
Share my future location
ACTUAL)

The tools I use
http://tonzylstra.jaiku.com/
• Jaiku, what I do
http://twitter.com/tonzylstra
• Twitter, what I say I do http://plazes.com/users/1832
• Plazes, where I am http://www.dopplr.com/traveller/Ton
• Dopplr, where I will be http://zylstra.org/blog/
http://www.slideshare.net/tonzijlstra
• Blogs, what I think
http://flickr.com/photos/tonz
• Slideshare, what I talk about http://del.icio.us/Ton
• Flickr, what I see
• Delicious, what I read http://www.linkedin.com/in/tonzijlstra
https://www.xing.com/profile/Ton_Zijlstra
• Collaborative tools: MindMeister,
http://wakoopa.com/Ton
GoogleDocs
http://www.last.fm/user/TonZijlstra/
• LinkedIn and Xing, where I work http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?
• Wakoopa, software I use id=503792956
• Last.fm, what I listen to http://tonzijlstra.hyves.net/
• Facebook, what entertains me
•

Why?

Change: more connections

Change: more connections
• Internet makes the world smaller. People are
more connected, and have more connections
• Maintaining connections is time consuming.
New ways to support that emerge.
• People have more diverse social networks and
environments.

Change: higher speed

Change: higher speed
• More connections mean more exchanges, higher
dynamis. This increases speed of change.
• More situations where immediate response is
needed.
• Need for more conscious choice what actions are
effective.

Change: information abundance

Change: information abundance
• Controlling / evaluating ‘all’ information is impossible.
We are immersed in information, like a landscape.
• New strategies emerge to deal with the information
volume. New applications are built on top of this
abundance.
• You make sense of the information that reaches you.
New information skills. (*) Social networks as
information filter. You actively share info about yourself
to be visible in the network.
* information literacy competency standards (door the US Association for College and Research Libraries)

Change
Quantitative source
• More connections
• More speed
• More information
Qualitative answers:
• Active personal role (sense making, producing)
• Other information skills (information literacy,
multitasking/fast switching)
• Different tools and work forms (Web 2.0, Open
Space)

Back to my working day

Three ways of looking at this day
• The work I do
• The information skills I use
• The tools I use
Correspond to three qualitative answers
• Pro-active role, own scope of influence
• Networked information skills
• Social media tools

Again: Why?

Cost of sharing: 0
Cost of publishing: 0
Cost of group forming: 0

Not just technology
It’s structural

It is cheaper to organize
your own event ..... than
to find one that fits
Examples: barcamp.org, reboot.dk

It is cheaper to start
your own political
movement than to find
one that fits

Even if you’re never on
the net!

?
Maybe not, but not business as usual either

Credits: all photos / illustrations
(CC) Ton Zijlstra
by nc sa
or
by nc nd
Ton Zijlstra
ton@tonzijlstra.eu
http://zylstra.org/blog