There are lot’s of ideas about what the Internet is for. And people, including myself, are using this worldwide-web for purposes as different as transforming personal PC’s into a super computer cluster1, to building community amongst a group of people.
I see the Internet as a tool to strengthen communities; to bring people together. Whether the tool a community needs is a message board to share updates about what’s happening at school; a way to send messages like you would paper mail across long distances; or a library to house ideas; the Internet can do it.
With this boundless potential comes the equally unbridled enthusiasm of onlookers to contribute their two cents about what the Internet can, or should be. Paul Ford furthers this by stating that the fundamental question of the web is “Why wasn’t I consulted?”.
To Ford, the Internet is a customer service medium, “whatever ‘customer service’ means when it comes to” an industry or group of people. His challenge:
“Turn your readers into members. Not visitors, not subscribers; you want members. And then don’t just consult them, but give them tools to consult amongst themselves.”
I hope that you, the reader, want to be included in this conversation I’ve started with Notional. And I hope I’ve given that conversation a start by sharing these articles and posts with you. And I look forward to your feedback and hope that you won’t mind being consulted2.
You can read Ford’s full post, The Web Is a Customer Service Medium →
Footnotes:
- Grid computing projects, like the Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing (BOINC), allow you to install a piece of software on your computer that will make your personal computer part of a larger network of computers when your computer is idle (at night, while you’re at lunch, etc.).
- If you don’t mind being consulted and want to get in touch, shoot me an email or we could even try communicating via Twitter.