Communications problems

[ffutures]

Haven't been posting much because I'm at a small SF con (plokta.con) and got a bit busy with other things. Just back from a panel about the future of communications (via Twitter, Livejournal, etc.) which struck me as a splendid example of futility - here we have a relatively small group of people who to a large extent know each other, are on the same site and spending much of their time together - and someone still feels it necessary to discuss how they can communicate more effectively.

The panel, incidentally, included two participants storming out in a huff with each other - which the twitter feed (shown on screen) did no justice to whatever. Less than impressed...

Comments

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

Dare I ask what they fell out with each other over enough to storm out?

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

I think that perhaps I'd better not answer, not least because I think the argument began before the panel started.

[cdave]

It did indeed.

I have some thoughts on why that panel went the way it did, but am not going mention some of them in a public forum for the same reason that the twitter screen did not. Announcing some stuff loudly and publicly is just asking for trouble.

My thesis was that as the speed of the medium has sped up, the focus has gone down to the point where Twitter isn't a medium for fanac at all.

Medium: Fan focus; duration / turnaround time of discussions

Fanzines: Focused articles, long turn around.
Usenet / Mailing lists: Long (sometimes meandering) topics; fairly fast turnaround.
LJ (communities and blogs): Lower fanac to personal post ratio; conversations tend to stop by the time it's scrolled off most people's front page.
Twitter: Almost all personal; with it starting as a text messaging service and still having a large mobile phone focus it doesn't even need for you to be at a PC, mostly broadcast little conversation.

I'd appreciate some feedback. What would you have liked that panel to actually contain?

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

I really don't know - I'm not in a position to use Twitter anyway (don't have the right sort of mobile phone, don't particularly want to watch it for extended periods), I find that livejournal works pretty well for e.g. updates on convention programming. I'm not convinced that continuous updates and information feeds are actually needed for this purpose, especially given that most con sites still charge for internet access.

[cdave]

I must admit Phil's arguments on that point didn't convince me either.

What nearly did was third row announcing a pizza delivery on Saturday night, which attracted a few people who wouldn't have heard about it if it had just been done at the bar.

Fanac vs. communication

[robert-franson.livejournal.com]

It does seem that faster communication shortens our attention span. Perhaps ironic, but since there's vastly more SF available than when fanzines carried the bulk of intercourse, it must be harder to concentrate on particular stories or films known to all. Same with meeting or corresponding with people, now that the SF-reading and -watching public has grown enormous.