via Chris Brogan
It’s easier sometimes to think of all this digital stuff as physical space, as something that we can think about as “places” instead of just a bunch of software buzzing around. Maybe Facebook is that really friendly place you go to connect with relatives and old flames. Perhaps Pinterest is a kind of “mall” for dreaming and planning. YouTube is the movie theater. I don’t know.
Pull up a cup of whatever you’re drinking. Me? I’m having a mix of lemon, ginger, and turmeric in hot water. It’s delicious (and some kind of cleansing recipe). What about you?
ARE YOU A GOOD NEIGHBOR?
When the web was a little simpler, it was easier to know what to do. Hyperlinks were a way of pointing something out that was located elsewhere. We all knew that it was polite to link to the place where we found something. Thus, when Steve Garfield gives me an idea, I say “Steve Garfield gave me an idea.”
That link made me a good neighbor. Blogs used to be built with this concept firmly in place and taught to all newcomers. If you find it somewhere, link to it. Refer to the source. Give people their blue underlined due. Though I sound like an old man saying, “Back in my day…” , the point is made. We are losing some of that.
In recent years, the social web has lost this even more.
BREADCRUMBS MAKE FOR A GOOD NEIGHBOR
(Talk about a mixed metaphor.)
Sharing is a great part of what we do online. It’s a kind of currency at this point. What makes us worth following or knowing in these places is often partially based on what we find and share. When we share something we found via someone else, it’s appropriate to point that out while sharing it. These are called “breadcrumbs” (because that’s what Hansel and Gretel left in the woods to try and mark their trail).
