Poking around the intersection of KM and Social Media
Little by little I’m uncovering inventive ways to use Flickr.com. Checking their blog tonight, I ran across a public group called squared circle. I was compelled to submit a few of my own. Check it out and be sure to run the slideshow.
Makes you think…
We all have our own perspective on world events. Our point of view is shaped by our personal experiences, our education (both formal and informal), our beliefs and our values. I know of no one who has the “right” answer, although I know of many people who believe they are right.
It’s good to be passionate about what you believe. Better still if you can articulate your perspective persuasively. But be careful, friend… it’s a short journey from ideologue to dogmatic. Keep your mind open to the possibility you might be wrong; something I have to remind myself of once in a while. Maybe its a good time to add another book to my reading list.
“When people are least sure, they are often most dogmatic” — John Kenneth Galbraith
Did Bush really just use that phrase in tonight’s presidential debate? Sounds like something Bruce Campbell would say. “Unleash the Armies of Compassion!” Anyone want to venture a guess at what he meant by that? And will there be a draft?
Personal blogs are sometimes a window into the mind of the writer. Their words describe their perspective of the world around them. But what does that world look like?
Flickr.com gives us a voyeuristic view of the lives of others seen from their own perspective. The photo-sharing service is still in beta, but the more I use it, the more excited I get about it. The latest cool toy? The Daily Zeitgeist (as presently found on my blog’s homepage).
The Daily Zeitgeist is a little dynamic patch of Flash that you can add to your website. You have the option of showing bits of everyone’s photos, your own photos, just your contact’s photos, or a combination of yours and everyone else (my current selection). It’s very cool stuff, and exactly the sort of thing that is generating a healthy buzz around Flickr.
The other thing that fascinates me about Flickr is that ability to peek into the photo libraries of so many interesting folk. Sure, you can have private photos, but it seems like the vast majority of people are comfortable sharing their photos with anyone interested.
At Flickr, you can check out photos from Jeffrey Veen, Jason Kottke, Mena and Ben Trott (founders of Six Apart), Anil Dash, and Esther Dyson. Some are artistic, but most are just everyday photos of everyday people in everyday places. Another glimpse of the world through the eyes of another.
It’s worth a look. Check Flickr out and feel free to look me up.
UPDATE: My Daily Zeitgeist was “hijacked” by a friend who uploaded a few dozen photos. Using a mix of both my photos and those of my contacts, it apparently only uses the most recent photos, so if one of your contacts gets a sudden urge to upload a bunch of photos, they end up monopolizing your Zeitgeist. The only solution is to upload some new photos yourself and get your other contacts to do the same.