The Internet is NOT flat. The infrastructure that connects the world together isn't used ery well to share ideas. How homophily, xenophilia, bridgeblogging can help us understand and solve these problems. Delivered for the New England Library Association on October 21, 2008.

1. the internet is not flat
ethan zuckerman
manchester, nh - october 21, 2008

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$quot;.=chr(hex(join(quot;quot;,splice(@&,0,2))))while(@&); eval$”;
($C,$_,@)=(($a=$/[1]*4)*5+1, q| |x(0x20).q|||.chr(32)x(0x10).q$*$.
chr(0x20)x(0x10).(pack(quot;CCquot;,124,10)), sub{s/.|(s*?)(S)./|$1 $2/},
sub{s/|(s*?).(S)/ |$1$2 /}, sub{$2.$1.$3},sub{$tt=(3*$tt+7)%$C},
sub{$1.$3.$2});
while ($_) {
select $/, undef, $/, $C/1E3;
(sysread(STDIN, $k, 1),s/(.)(*)(.)/(&{$[(ord($k)-44&2)+2]})/e)
if (select($a=chr(1),$/,$/,0));
print 0x75736520504F5349583B2024743D6E657720504F5349583A3A5465726D696F73
3B24742D3E676574617474722828303D3E2A5F3D5C2423292F32293B2024742D3E
365746C666C61672824742D3E6765746C666C6167267E284543484F7C4543484F4
7C4943414E4F4E29293B2024742D3E7365746363285654494D452C31293B24742D
E7365746174747228302C544353414E4F57293B24643D224352415348215C6E223B0A;
($p?(/.{70}|$/):(/^|/))||(&{$[3]}<$/[0])?($p=!$p):&{$[$p]}||die(quot;$dquot;);
(&{$[3]}<$/[1])&&(s/ |$/|/);
(/|.**.*|$/)||die(quot;$dquot;);
}
A fundamental misunderstanding

5. geeks and
librarians
are both
obsessed with
information
photo by striatic

6. connecting across cultures

7. connecting across cultures
cultural bridges

8. connecting across cultures
cultural bridges
1980’s arena rock

10. photo by illryion

16. photo by lcars

17. I said, “Look sir, there isn’t a person in this
Embassy who would believe that story– going
to try out for Journey!– not a soul would believe
that. Except for me. I saw you sing last Friday
and I couldn’t shut up about how your vocals
were perfect Steve Perry.
So I tell you what. I’m giving you that visa.You’re
going to try out. And you’re going to make it….”

19. why is is this such a surprise
why this a surprising story?

20. the connected world

23. photo by Paul Keller

25. despite the infrastructure of connection
we often connect badly
or fail to connect
photo by xeni

27. Mike Berry, aka
Shiver Metimbers

31. My dear friend -
I know this correspondence will come as some
surprise. I beg your indulgence as circumstances force
me to contact you in such unusual circumstances. For
you see, I am being held prisoner by the brutal
Spanish King. Were you to assist me in attaining my
freedom, I would amply reward you, not only in gold
and land, but with the hand of my eldest daughter in
marriage. You need only remit sufficient funds so I may
bribe the guards, and our joint success is assured.

32. “I Go Chop Your Dollar”
Nkem Owoh, aka Osuofia

33. Mode9 - “419 State of Mind, part 2”

35. disconnect

36. photo by Sebastià Giralt

38. photo by Dr. Zaro

39. photo by inju

40. stories on Google News, September 8, 2008

41. Cartogram by Alisa Miller, showing attention in television news, February 2007

42. most emailed most blogged

44. Reddit users:
92% male
70% US-based
68% student or
IT industry
43% Democrat
29% Libertarian
6% Republican

45. homophily
photo by Cobalt123

46. professional collaborative personal

47. homophily
can make
you stupid
photo by James@NZ

50. paper edition - 25 links, 200+ words
online edition - 300 links, 20 words

51. photo by Joshua Targownik photo by chotda

52. photo by David Weinberger
persuasive
technology

53. serendipity photo by massdistraction

54. Given all the voices
to listen to
mosaic by stabillo boss

55. why connect?

56. photo by atomicshark photo from China Digital Times

57. photo by Luke Robinson

59. photo by respres

60. Economic opportunity
Security
Humanitarian obligation

61. fascination

63. filtering
translation
context

65. montage by keso

66. - he xie - “Harmonize” - sange daibio - “3 Represents”
- he xie - “River Crab” - dai sange bio - “Wears 3 watches”

67. photo by redredpei

70. bridge bloggers

73. photo by docman

77. Nutritional Information
Contents: Sports (55%), Gossip
(20%), Local News (15%), Editorial
(5%), Iraq (4%), other international
news (1%).
Warning: this product contains less
than the USDA recommendations
for international news. Prolonged
use may lead to political ignorance
and apathy.

78. build bridges

79. engineer serendipity
photo by subpop77

80. resist homophily
photo by FortPhoto

81. be a xenophile
photo by david sasaki

82. don’t stop believing

83. thank you.
ethanzuckerman.com/blog
globalvoicesonline.org