Thanks to DS106 and a hilariously passionate man, I’m now pondering what is a personal cyberinfrastructure, who in the hell would want a digital facelift, and why does no one want his bags of gold? Come again? I’ll go slowly so you can catch that again. We watched a podcast of Gardner Campbell‘s talk on this idea of everyone being an active part of the internet as it grows and changes our lives. After all, it is something that has already changed our lives so much. How much have I contributed to it? More than I originally thought. I create the internet with every tweet, facebook like, and google search. I determine what is relevant or not. Never before have individuals had so much potential to affect something that affects so many others, so quickly. What would it mean for us all to be “effective architects, narrators, curators, and inhabitants of our own digital lives”? Pretty sweet if you ask me. Creating an Inception-like world of our own purposeful design that exceeds the capabilities of our current reality. Without the schizophrenia.
So do I buy it? Is it really my responsibility to create this utopia-through-technology world? Yes, actually. Like it or not, we all create something. We all affect each other, whether its online or offline. Here we have the potential to share so much good, so much of ourselves, so much potential for limitless innovation.
When I was a high school graduate, I couldn’t dream up the career I’m pursuing now. An app was something paper you filled out to get a job. Entire economies and job fields exist today that weren’t in my guidance counselor’s wildest imagination. Meme was a character on the Drew Carey show. You get the idea.
So enough of the soap box. The idea is, you get what you give. Don’t complain about the crap on the internet if all you contribute is, well, crap. Get out there and “Make art dammit!”
Watch the infamous video here and get yourself a bag of gold:
Prefer print? You can read his article here:
Just want the gold? Here’s a great remix:
Bag Of Gold from Tim Owens on Vimeo.
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