This presentation elaborates the idea and concept of adding broader messages to online communication, similar to the way a physical stamp can convey a message for a good cause or a special event.

1. From REBOOT with Love
I’m really glad I can do this presentation here, because at REBOOT, new ideas take root.
At least that is my experience...
R E A L I Z I N G L A V I E V I R T U E L L E
Copyright 2009 Almar van der Krogt @ VIRVIE.com

2. See for example my first tweet (two years ago!)
R E A L I Z I N G L A V I E V I R T U E L L E http://www.tweet1.com/

3. Inspiration
Earlier this year I gave a presentation for Smidswater, creative communication agency. I
consulted on their webpresence, for that is what I do for a living. They showed me this
book they made for their 35 year anniversary. It’s a beautiful book showcasing a lot of their
impressive work, among which a few stamps for the Dutch postal services.
R E A L I Z I N G L A V I E V I R T U E L L E http://www.smidswater.com/

4. When is e-mail finally getting
a ‘stamp’?
That got me thinking. In the real world important people or special events get a statue, a
building, a streetname or .... a postage STAMP.
The physical stamp has the unique capability of conveying an additional message with it.
This now seems to get lost. And is there, or will there be an online equivalent?
R E A L I Z I N G L A V I E V I R T U E L L E
Copyright 2009 Almar van der Krogt @ VIRVIE.com

5. In the Netherlands, as in many other countries there's a rich history of stamp designs.
Postage stamps were first introduced in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
on May 1, 1840. The site “Icons of the Post” shows the rich Dutch legacy.
I think it’s an incredible honour to either be on a stamp or to design it.
R E A L I Z I N G L A V I E V I R T U E L L E http://www.iconenvandepost.nl/

6. Broader Message
Over the years, many (government) causes that got attention through stamps. They have
been used to collect for charities (e.g. yearly “Childrens stamps”), remembering special
events or persons, luring tourists, health advice, conveying norms and values (see “Global
Warming and Green Energy” above) and even political propaganda.
R E A L I Z I N G L A V I E V I R T U E L L E
Copyright 2009 Almar van der Krogt @ VIRVIE.com

7. Customization
Many countries these days also allow personalized stamps. Sometimes causing
controversies, for example when action groups start to use them. Also esthetics are an
issue that should be kept in mind.
R E A L I Z I N G L A V I E V I R T U E L L E
Copyright 2009 Almar van der Krogt @ VIRVIE.com

8. The stamp is history?
However with the rise of stamping machines together and the expected decline of physical
mail the cultural history of the stamp seems to get lost. I propose to pick up the legacy and
continue it online!
For the need is still there, and it’s already happening online...
R E A L I Z I N G L A V I E V I R T U E L L E
Copyright 2009 Almar van der Krogt @ VIRVIE.com

9. Various causes
See for example HelpIranElection.com, where you can give your Twitter avatar a green
overlay; something like a ‘visual hashtag’. Judging from this trend there is a desire/need for
an extra message. However, the green avatar is limited; it obscures your avatar which
actually impedes communication.
R E A L I Z I N G L A V I E V I R T U E L L E
Copyright 2009 Almar van der Krogt @ VIRVIE.com

10. There are some options to add a message. First is an actual stamp in the interface (optional
per message), as shown here. Another is changing the URL of a domain via a redirect and
finally you could use shortened URL for a ‘mini-message’. I’ll get back to this later, because
links are actually really important.
R E A L I Z I N G L A V I E V I R T U E L L E
Copyright 2009 Almar van der Krogt @ VIRVIE.com

11. When I was preparing for this presentation and developed the idea for the ‘mini-message’,
I looked into various forms of URL-shorteners. But then, last week, this message got my
attention: “Links are the currency of the Internet”.
It was a statement made at the 140 characters conference (see next slide)
R E A L I Z I N G L A V I E V I R T U E L L E
Copyright 2009 Almar van der Krogt @ VIRVIE.com

12. R E A L I Z I N G L A V I E V I R T U E L L E

13. @dweinberger: See "Links
as punctuation". Instead of
stopping it triggers to continue
"which is an act of
generosity".
So the links are actually, in different ways, the sweetspot of what I want to achieve here!
THE LINK IS THE PACKAGE THAT GETS STAMPED!
R E A L I Z I N G L A V I E V I R T U E L L E http://www.flickr.com/photos/wendelboe/3659208405

14. A long list of URL
shorteners
Which brings me back to URL shorteners. This is a list made by @chrismessina: he
stopped quite a while back at 108!
They are very handy in saving your 140 characters, but there are some issues...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/factoryjoe/sets/
72157602178338004/comments/
R E A L I Z I N G L A V I E V I R T U E L L E

15. It seems that they’ll
be with us for some
time to come
The major drawbacks are pointed out in this article by Adam Hertz on Stowe Boyd’s
weblog. The biggest issue being able to resolve shortened URLs.
Maybe we should call URL shorteners a necessary evil, for the time being.
http://www.stoweboyd.com/message/
R E A L I Z I N G L A V I E V I R T U E L L E 2009/01/url-shorteners-please-resolve.html

16. Another issue is that most links and especially shortened ones, make no sense whatsoever,
a topic that was discussed at UX London last week. This of course makes the task at hand
even more difficult: I want to shorten the URL, keep the message, AND add a broader
message to it as well!
R E A L I Z I N G L A V I E V I R T U E L L E
Copyright 2009 Almar van der Krogt @ VIRVIE.com

17. I think there is a solution possible by combining two types of URL shorteners. First there is
SafeURL. The shortened URL takes you to an ‘intermediate’ page that allows you to see the
full link, preview the ‘destination’ page and take note of the risk level.
The drawback is the extra click of course.
R E A L I Z I N G L A V I E V I R T U E L L E http://www.safeurl.to/default.aspx

18. Next there is Doiop. “Doiop creates [..] a short URL with a keyword you choose”.
This to ensure the shortened link still makes sense (or even more sense than the original
one for that matter).
R E A L I Z I N G L A V I E V I R T U E L L E http://www.doiop.com/

19. As Dave Winer pointed out recently: choosing your URL shortener should be an option
within different services and clients. So that’s the first step in my “URL shortening, clear
messaging, broader engaging” service. Let’s see what it could look like...
R E A L I Z I N G L A V I E V I R T U E L L E
Copyright 2009 Almar van der Krogt @ VIRVIE.com

20. First: Choose your URL shortening service within your Twitter or Google Wave-client. For
the sake of argument I’m calling my suggested service “mini-message”. I am adding the mini-
message to URL’s because then I know there is an actual connection and action at the
receiving end of the message/package.
R E A L I Z I N G L A V I E V I R T U E L L E
Copyright 2009 Almar van der Krogt @ VIRVIE.com

21. Next you select the message that you want to accompany your link. This could be a default
mini-message stamp or one from a growing collection, like the real world stamps.
You can change this as little or as often as you like.
R E A L I Z I N G L A V I E V I R T U E L L E
Copyright 2009 Almar van der Krogt @ VIRVIE.com

22. Then, when you add links to your messages from your client-application the service
suggest a keyword for the shortened URL - based on the title of the site or article - which
you can accept or edit.The keyword reflects the destination URL(!); the mini-message
remains a surprise for recipient.
R E A L I Z I N G L A V I E V I R T U E L L E
Copyright 2009 Almar van der Krogt @ VIRVIE.com

23. When the recipient of the message clicks on the link, the link takes you to a stamp sized
pop-up, with the broader message, which automatically redirects to the destination-site
after a few seconds. This you could vary based on the associated risk level: a risky link takes
longer to redirect, for example. The risk-level is also indicated with a color-coding.
R E A L I Z I N G L A V I E V I R T U E L L E
Copyright 2009 Almar van der Krogt @ VIRVIE.com

24. And eventually the destination site is shown. To recap the flow: after setting up the service
and selecting a mini-message for the time being, it is added only to those messages
containing links. In these cases the recipient sees the mini-message for a couple of
seconds, after which he is safely taken to the destination URL.
http://www.scripting.com/stories/2009/06/25/
R E A L I Z I N G L A V I E V I R T U E L L E theMythOfPerfection.html?dsq=11720224#comment-11720224

25. I just want to go back to the possible value of the additional message for a minute, and
argue why it should be graphical in my opinion.
I consider my suggested virtual stamp largely ornamental, taking the categorisation above.
And I think the “something else” they do is very subtle, but valuable.
R E A L I Z I N G L A V I E V I R T U E L L E
Copyright 2009 Almar van der Krogt @ VIRVIE.com

26. Google Doodles
Think of the Google Doodles for example. The are used to visually commemorate special
events (like this one for 25 years of Tetris) or people in an appealing way.
R E A L I Z I N G L A V I E V I R T U E L L E
Copyright 2009 Almar van der Krogt @ VIRVIE.com

27. And of course there are many, many examples of stamps with either ornamental or
content graphics.
Here are some of the stamps I collected as a kid ;-)

28. A long shot?
The final question is: is it a long shot? Let’s discuss: you can shout out or post on Twitter
using the #e-stamp hashtag. Thank you.
R E A L I Z I N G L A V I E V I R T U E L L E
Copyright 2009 Almar van der Krogt @ VIRVIE.com

29. Check out
www.VIRVIE.com
or @Almar
R E A L I Z I N G L A V I E V I R T U E L L E
Copyright 2009 Almar van der Krogt @ VIRVIE.com