Chris has written a really interesting post about venues, the experience of going to things and the way venues and events could make themselves more interesting and useful by better using digital stuff.
It's prompted me to finally write something that's been wobbling around my head for a while - the benefits of the kind of benign "taste stalking" you can do with things like upcoming, last.fm and twitter. If I was going to slot it into Chris's breakdown of the different experiences I think I'd called it 'sharing the discovery'.
That's probably over-complicating things. What I mean in practise is this:
I've found a few people online who seem to have similar tastes to mine, but better and more enthusiastic. They're much more likely to seek interesting events out, they're better informed about what's coming up and what's likely to be good and they're more energetic about actually going to them. Their concert-going taste is like mine but better. And what upcoming lets me do is ride their coat-tails to event happiness. I don't have to religiously read Time Out and comb through upcoming I just keep an eye on what they're going to, and I go to some of the same things. (Which is why it feels slightly like stalking, and now I write it down maybe it's more creepy than I realise, hmm, maybe I should stop.)
I do the same thing on Last.fm. There are a few people who's taste seems to be similar to mine but again, they're just that little bit more into a particular genre, they're more informed, more dedicated. And Last let's me sample what they're listening to. They're a taste surrogate for me. I've found a lot of good music that way. It's like listening to tapes in your mates bedroom when you're 14.
I've realised that I also do this with political opinion, I simply don't feel informed enough about so many issues to know what I think about them, so I just find someone who I tend to agree with on the big things and then make them an opinion surrogate. For a long time my political opinion surrogate was David Aaronovitch but then I read this interview with Dave Rowntree and realised I agreed with everything he said, so maybe it'll be him from now on.
The beauty of services like last and upcoming is that other people's enthusiasms and expertise can be turned into gifts without them having to do any extra work. There doesn't seem to be an equivalent for books, or am I missing something?
I think of this aspect of the gift economy as social slipstreaming. We're all like members of the peloton, it works because everyone takes turns to be upfront battling through and everyone slipstreams from their efforts. Everyone takes a turn, everyone contributes, that's how it works. Your enthusiasms, your interests are your contribution. I guess mine is cafes, I hope that's enough.
Hmm. I'm not sure I'm saying anything new here, just making up jargon, but it's passing the time while the kettle boils.
What about Library Thing for books? http://www.librarything.com/
"Meet the worlds's largest book club. Find people with eerily similar taste."
Eerily is a bit like creepy isn't it?
I've not tried it, mainly because I know I'd get addicted and I'm already trying to cull my books. But it looks like the kind of thing you're on about.
Posted by: Mark McGuinness | July 05, 2007 at 05:29 PM
I'm in need too - all these hip social networking parties tonight that I'm reading about on twitter but did I know about even one of them? It 's enough to give a boy a complex.
Posted by: John Dodds | July 05, 2007 at 08:21 PM
I like the 'riding on the coat tails' thesis - although surely what's exciting about the web is the fact that geography is no longer critical to the process?
I mean, there are always going to be your cool friends with the cool CDs, but now you don't have to be in their bedrooms over the other side of town.
Posted by: Peter Parkes | July 05, 2007 at 09:54 PM
Have you heard of AllConsuming.net? Users can share about things that they're consuming (books, music, movies, food) and say if it was "worth consuming". I've found some good stuff through people with similar taste in there.
Posted by: Reese | July 05, 2007 at 11:43 PM
Oh dear. I don't think I'm at the front of the peloton for anything. I'm pure stalker.
Posted by: Scamp | July 06, 2007 at 12:30 PM
This is awesome dude. And essential. With digital comes infinite choice - so the problem becomes how do I navigate infinite choice? Via social recommendation. Amazon's greatest innovation and the most potent up / cross selling tool ever.
All you need to know is one thing you like and then you surf the network of socially created connections to something else. Like in the Musicplasma thing, only using behaviours.
Grant's written a nice build on this over on Cultureby - we are all networks. And I think he disrupts the notion of the individual, which should make Mark happy ;-p
Rock on.
Posted by: Faris | July 06, 2007 at 04:26 PM
Goodreads.com!
Posted by: nofrontin | July 08, 2007 at 10:44 PM
Blogs and the internet have changed the way I live, think and express myself. I now understand the motivations behind a lot of very odd reporting and tell every kid I spend any time with "challenge everything" - stole that from Electronic Arts.
One of the best things that's happened to me in recent years is - my sister plays in a band. They play all over London, every kind of venue, competitions, open mic, parties. I go 90% of the time and cannot describe how much richer my knowledge is of: the pubs, clubs and bars of London, how pop bands operate, and the uplift you get from raw, intimate, live music.
Find a band and follow it. Or check out: "Thank You Driver."
Posted by: Carol | July 09, 2007 at 10:52 AM