# I've been posting a lot less frequently. Part of that is being back at work and the tiredness it brings but what doesn't follow is that I have largely stopped publishing shorter posts, likes and quick replies when it would make more sense not to post longer, more thoughtful pieces that require more energy to write.
At least that's how it feels.
It's good in a way because it means that I've not been so beguiled by microblogging that I'm no longer able to write something more in depth but I miss the balance and variety.
I just don't know why my posting behaviour has changed in this way. Part of me wonders if it's some form of imposter syndrome where I feel I have no right to impose my "likes" on the world, yet I am perfectly willing to impose my thoughts. It makes no sense, it should surely be the other way around.
I have such streamlined workflows (small w) that it is so easy for me to do yet something inside resists, says don't.
I need to stop listening.
Comments
A visual social network?
Adam Procter shared a video detailing what he's working on for his PhD research: reimagining digital tools for design education because they are "fundamentally broken" being a literal translation from paper to screen. He talks about possibly using Spatial Hypertext for the interface (where there are more visual representations for information chunks and their interrelations) rather than linear walls of text pulled straight from textbooks.
This reminded me of an idea I had for a visual social network a few years ago (as part of #Write365) inspired by the Ripples feature from Google Plus.
I first wrote about Ripples after their introduction in 2011 as the notion of visually tracking the spread of conversations and ideas via social shares really appealed to me. I envisaged Ripples forming the basis of an analytics offering but, at least until I left Plus, this never materialised - although by 2014 they had added a little of what I imagined such as basic influencer information.
The social web became a lot more visual but this normally refers to the proliferation of images and videos, but what if we could take a more visual, and tactile, approach to text based conversations? Social networks are linear constructs because it is far easier to both design and read if there is form and structure:
post -> comment -> response.
Re-shares may take a particular conversation in a new direction but we are then just dealing with isolated, parallel linear experiences.
Beyond Ripples
I thought, what if this visual format
"could be applied directly to a social network? An interactive social mind map ... What if we were able to instantly visualise the conversation itself rather than just an indication of it's spread?"
We already have collaborative mind mapping software but this is usually small scale, designed for teams. What it we had something similar that was public? It would allow us to:
- follow trains of thought visually rather than flick between discrete threads
- examine multiple conversation threads concurrently
- better cross-reference and create new links and connections between items.
I imagined a visual representation of social data that allowed users to manipulate the layout of conversations to suit their own purposes, align threads, drag items into more convenient places and manually create links between related items - all without affecting the actual data structure. These changes could be shared with others as snapshots (restricted to individuals or groups, or made public) the links becoming "wormholes" between different points in the social graph; rubber bands able to twist and stretch, connecting nodes within this spatial rendering.
The big problem, however, would be whether it was possible or even desirable. Would it be too complicated to present social data in such a manner? Would users be willing to invest in such a system and would it be too difficult to navigate? I also wondered if it would be possible to add this as a layer on top of an existing network (Ripples suggested it could be) or would it need to be a new network, purpose-built, specific.
Thinking about this again after a four year gap, the appeal of such a representation would, no doubt, be limited. Casual users would be unlikely to need or want such a means of examining the social landscape - the simpler the better. It would also not be practical on a mobile phone - a traditional feed would still be required here.
Perhaps such a visualisation could be limited to "chunks" of data, the current conversation's immediate neighbourhood, making it easier to consume and manage but I still feel the amount of use it would get would probably not justify the work involved in creating it.
@colinwalker If they don't like it, they can always just unfollow?
@hjertnes I actually think more about my own behaviour and how it affects me rather than how it is seen by others and so the doubt is more internally focused.
@colinwalker are you doing your site for you or for others?
@hjertnes Exactly. For me so it shouldn’t matter!
@colinwalker would Colin appreciate Colin's likes?
@hjertnes I’ll have to ask him ?
You sound like a therapist. :)
@colinwalker Just a philosophy major
I think you're overthinking things, Colin. (And I say that highly aware of my own propensity to do the same thing. :)) Maybe you haven't had anything short to say.
Just write. Whether it's short or long, often or not, keyboard or pen. Let it come when it comes, and try to enjoy it. Don't let "should" destroy that for you.
P. S. You're not imposing anything on us; we've chosen to be here. :)
@hjertnes That last comment was actually a reply on the blog itself (and not from me) but m.b doesn’t process the microformats properly at present. @manton is aware (nudge)
@colinwalker You still do old school comments on your site?
@hjertnes Yup, no point excluding non-Indieweb folks.
@colinwalker I don't consider a webmentions and comments to be the same thing. A webmention requires a little bit more effort.
@hjertnes With webmentions being converted to comments on WordPress they end up the same.
You went back to work and I just started a new job. I think we will both return to our formal publishing efforts once we've settled.
I know, thanks. I just think I need to be reminded sometimes ?
There’s a lot to be said for routine and its disruption. Although that very disruption can also be a good thing. We need a shake up every now and then.
@colinwalker Thanks for posting this. It's made me realize I feel similarly. For what it's worth, I always enjoy your posts—long or short!
@jordon Thanks ? I’m sure things will work themselves out.
We probably all need to be reminded. :)
@colinwalker I’ve had the opposite problem: 27 short posts and only 2 long posts so far this month. I didn’t think I had made nearly that many short posts; I only knew I wasn’t writing posts that required any sort of sustained thinking.
Part of my “problem” is that I am spending time interacting with people here on Micro.blog, which does cut in to time I could be writing longer posts. On the other hand, I have been wanting to do more photo-type blogging for a long time, and 9 of those 27 short posts are photo posts (+2 more that are photo-text hybrids), so I am at least accomplishing another goal.
@smokey that’s the point of micro.blog that makes the most sense to me - a rich flow of information that has quick eddies (micro conversations) and slower currents (long posts) I’d bet most people fall into one or the other category as producers of content but enjoy both as consumers. Which leads to my current itch - how to classify this flow of information to consume and to retrieve easily. In that sense it’s a bit like RSS.
@seishonagon I was definitely surprised I was producing so much short-form content (on my own site, not counting replies), because I never saw myself as much of a short-form person ?
I was nodding along in understanding and agreement until I got to
I don’t understand what you mean by that sentence ?
@smokey yeah - I wrote this before my second morning coffee. I mean that if micro.blog really takes off, it may become a bit of a information firehose, like RSS, and it may lack some tools. I didn’t pay much attention this week, and getting back to conversations that may be interesting to me is not frictionless.
@seishonagon @smokey This has always been the way of social properties. One can follow conversations from your mentions or use favourites as a bookmarking tool but, ultimately, one has to be comfortable with the fact that things move on without you and you can’t read it all.