Cell phones, laptops and wireless Internet enable humans to connect and communicate with each when face-to-face interaction isn’t possible. But what happens when we abuse these technologies to voice our frustration in traditional forums?
I participated in an MPR “Traditional vs. New Media Ethics” panel a couple weeks ago. While two speakers at the front of the room spoke “at” the audience, a few were live blogging the event and many others were using Twitter to form a social media backchannel. Apart from the conversation at the front of the room, more than 20 of the audience of 100 were sharing thoughts about the topic, speaker comments and unrealized expectations. Following the forum, an outcry arose from participants regarding the availability and use of digital backchannels for those in the audience to communicate, collaborate and share opinions shielded from those not “in the know” or intimidated by using technology in this manner.
Then last week at a South By Southwest Interactive Conference Panel called Social Marketing Strategies Metrics, Where Are They?, many of the 300+ flocked to the official meebo Livechat page and Twitter to vent their frustration with moderator questions and panelist answers. What they found there was a community of like-minded people coming to the same conclusion. After 30 minutes and still no sign of talking about measurable results, someone did speak up. This brave soul shared that many of those in the room were dissatisfied with the panelists and discussion so far. But he was quickly dismissed by the moderator, “I have a couple questions left, then we’ll get to your questions. We have 30 minutes left.” Because of the formal backchannel on meebo, participants were able to vent their feelings (angst?) at being disrespected. A panel on metrics not addressing metrics was indeed depressing. And then frustration turned to incivility.
At one point, a chat participant wrote, “Ok, I’m taking off my sweater,” and he threw it in the air. Then he wrote, “Ok, all together now… let’s raise our hands on the count of… three,” and people really did raise their hands all across the room. Then it really got out of hand, something the folks over at the Social Networking Coups panel probably could have seen coming. Suddenly, literally l/10th of the room started coughing intermittently… for the rest of the panel.
Forum terrorism or not, it was an amazing collaboration by a group given the tools, like-mindedness and opportunity to connect and act.
The following day, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was interviewed by BusinessWeek author Sarah Lacy, who quickly irritated the crowd by sharing personal anecdotes, plugs for her new book, twirling her hair and overall conducting a bad interview. Thanks to digital backchannels like Twitter and meebo, criticism mounted among the audience as they silently tapped their thoughts onto phone and laptop keyboards. Someone stood up and shouted, “Talk about something interesting!” and the crowd erupted in applause. It was all downhill from there. If you didn’t read about it, just Google “Sarah Lacy.”
Do these three examples reflect a clash of cultures or the evolution of humanity and technology merging into an unstoppable digital convergence? I say both.
In today’s collaborative blog culture, the concept of 100 people listening to two people jabber on about something uninteresting in a forum that doesn’t allow the collective share their point of view seems archaic. With that said, it’s difficult for the average person to 1) listen and 2) maintain a fair and balanced dialog when they have their head down, reading thoughts of and typing responses to a group of fellow anarchists. Meanwhile, people not in the tech culture are often ignorant and/or intimidated of technology’s use in traditional situations. Essentially, what’s new and exciting to some is downright rude to others.
My biggest take-away: know your audience, give them the opportunity and tools for engagement, and then hold them responsible for it. If your audience will want a Q&A, be sure there are audience microphones and time for questions. If you know people may be blogging your event, personally invite someone to be the official live blogger. If you think people will be Twittering in the crowd, put up a projection screen and broadcast their “tweets.”
The availability and use of digital backchannels is unavoidable. Technology can connect and separate humans, yet often both at the same time.