But you always wondered “what can we do with all this?”

Enter 2008, and Social Media and Networking is rounding the second base. An ideal time for the Sociologists to come to the forefront and practice their skills.

This speech / blog post (by author Clay Shirky) got us thinking about the social interwebs, and how we all relate to one another.

In particular, the key takeaway has us thinking about the next big thing. The possibilities seem endless, and Clay’s speech sort of helps to feed that fire:

“We’re going to look at every place that a reader or a listener or a viewer or a user has been locked out, has been served up passive or a fixed or a canned experience, and ask ourselves, “If we carve out a little bit of the cognitive surplus and deploy it here, could we make a good thing happen?”

The speech is a great read, so much so that we’ve ordered Clay’s book and are passing it around the Stalelife offices. Maybe we should compare it to our old “Soc” texts?

Regardless, this one thing is certain, the sociological aspect of how we interact with each other (and our favorite brands) is all based our prior teachings and beliefs. And it’s up to us to mold it for the future.

The Sweetspot >> What I learned at SXSW iF (Part 2)…
from Kurt Pennypacker on Vimeo.