Photo by @topgold of a military silo where he worked.
I LEARN MORE through the serendipity of sharing than I do through directed channels. During the past month, I bumped into very valuable professional tips coming from people contributing to the #28DaysOfWriting meme in various places. [1] Importantly, I bumped into this content without having to join a channel, download a specific app or use a password. The content flowed from an RSS feed. [2]
In 1995, when I first started cobbling together websites, I realized I could learn more from mailing lists and discussion boards than I could learn from a new book. I had to spend time to read. Oftentimes, the online reading material was connected by hyperlinks in web rings or discussion threads.
I reckon one-third of the internet today depends upon the Facebook Table of Contents. Topics emerge on Facebook with content hyperlinking from news feeds or Facebook groups. If you cannot see inside the Facebook silo, you may miss links or connections to important ideas.
I don't depend on the Facebook Table of Contents although I use Google as my Internet of Connected Things. The difference is I don't need a password or a special app to see Google. I just say, "OK, Google" and I'm in.
Putting things in appified or password-protected silos breaks the table of contents of the internet. And if they stay in the silos, they rot and die. But if the ideas percolate across different networks, unblocked by passwords or restricted access, they grow and flourish. That is one of the fundamental principles of the internet of connected content.
1. I spotted #28DaysOf Writing on Twitter, on Tumblr, on Audioboom, on Google Plus, on Facebook, on Flickr and some very memorable ideas through Google Image Search.
2. Tom Barrett is the authority on 28 Days of Writing.
[Bernie Goldbach is the senior pilot creative multimedia lecturer in the Limerick School of Art & Design.]
