Occupy Art

The point of this post is not to debate the merits of the still-running Occupy Wall St. (and other places) protests, but rather to note some connections spurred by communication around the topic. Politics aside, I noticed something last week that I found kind of amazing.

 

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As I commented at the original story by Marketplace, I heard this example of shared communication on the radio (streaming, via my phone), read it online, linked to it on Facebook and Twitter, and am now blogging about it.

I think it's extraordinary — that this one guy has a thought, it gets adopted by someone in this protest, it's a highly relevant thought, and now it's broadcast and rebroadcast via many different channels. Will anything come of it? Who knows; my point is that we are part of communication magic, and it's worth reflecting upon.

True, there are maddening issues spurring on the protests, and many of them are complex... adding to the maddening. And along those lines, I think this sign captures the thought that originally inspired its content, while also making a statement on the complexity and associated frustration around the issues — while also illustrating the evolution of mass media communication, given the new breadth an individual's thoughts can achieve through technology... right to this very moment on this blog you're reading now.

There's something artful in the expression.

It makes me wonder if we're indeed in a revolution, at least in terms of communication, what with having the ability to reach and influence in so many ubiquitous, yet simple ways. We walk around with computers in our pockets and can connect with someone on the other side of the globe with ease. Or, maybe I'm just noticing the traceable pathways of the communication. Still, it's interesting to observe and document. I'm no protester, but I'm intrigued. As Marketplace host Kai Ryssdal noted, it's all very... "woah." And so, I was inspired to do some documenting via Instagram...

I photographed this sign made by a protestor in my city over the weekend:

Turns out I was subliminally giving props to Rage Against the Machine.
Which, oddly, is kinda appropriate:

And in fact, I support long-haired freaky people,
and I actually thought I was paying tribute to Tesla...

So hey, there's some art — or at least the convergence of national and local events, mass media, music, and visual design. I think that's remarkable, and I hope something can come of it, even if only reflection or informed entertainment.

Update, 10/26: not so sure I meant this kind of entertainment, from the people who brought you Puck and Snooki. Oh, well. For the story on how all this started in the first place, see the original author's follow-up.

Have you had any transcendental communication moments? Do you think we're in a revolution? Do you remember Tesla? Tell us in the comments...

An Airline Gets it... Right?

In these days of security pat-downs, rising travel costs, and seemingly ever-declining customer service, it's with great interest that I read the story of Mile Runners — freakishly dedicated travelers who go to great lengths (literally) to rack up frequent flier benefits. My favorite part of the article, however, was the official response from Delta:

We take mileage runs and our customers’ commitment to maintaining their SkyMiles Medallion status as confirmation that we’re offering highly desirable benefits to our customers. The lengths our customers will go to gain and maintain their miles are impressive, and we take it as a compliment. [read full story]

I mean, wow — here's an industry with very real challenges gracefully acknowledging the positive aspect of their powerusers. More importantly, they're taking the right approach from a customer service and media perspective. And rightly so; everyone wins in this story:

• Delta gets confirmation that frequent flier benefits are attractive


• They get some free advertising for said benefits


• Mile runners get a bit of glamor with their specialized knowledge

All of the above is a win-win for any company and its superfans, especially a company facing the sometimes very public challenges Delta and other airlines surely do every day. Props to Delta and spokesperson Chris Kelly Singley for getting this one right.

I don't know that I'd ever take up mile-running, but it's good to know the industry might be behind me if I did.

What do you think? Did Delta do right? Or do you have a similar example to share? Let us hear from you in the comments!

Recent travel photos. More over at Instagram, or on the web at Statigr.am

 Thanks to Mary Julia Smith for inspiring this story. See also: Shira Levine, MilePoint.

Space: Within our Reach... or, Redefining iCloud

I just saw this news item about Lenovo & YouTube's Space Lab project, and was pleasantly reminded of an equally, if not more-so awesome father-son team who sent an iPhone into space by themselves. Space. I mean, for real outer space into the blackness beyond our Earth. Best of all, they have video of it from start to end. It's truly inspiring, gives iCloud a new meaning, and is worth a few minutes if you don't mind being totally blown away.

Homemade Spacecraft from Luke Geissbuhler on Vimeo.

Getting Social, and a Bit About Instagram

So I've been making the effort lately to get more active in the social media space (hence this blog) for my own education and entertainment. Way back when (you know, like 2003), I was one of the first to rock a MySpace account with customized HTML. Remember having to plop some code in your "About me" field? Ha, you hacker.

The most-tapped area of my phone.

Anyway, most of my social activity lately has been via the amazing Instagram photo-sharing app for the iPhone (and maybe one day other platforms). Plenty has already been written about this, so I won't go into detail for now, but just let me say that it takes smart phones to an entirely new level and is one of the most fun things to do with a phone camera. Having had a career as a graphic artist, and having always been driven to be creative — and now with the bit of social media Instagram integrates, I am continually satisfied and excited about this app. It's like Twitter for visual thinkers, and social media for visual-creative types.

Back in the day I tried the still-excellent DeviantArt (DA) briefly, but after early photo manipulation experiments, lost interest. Instagram takes care of that almost completely with its built-in filters — and now apps like Photoforge2, Juxtaposer, and especially Noir (think dodge/burn/B&W made super-easy) let me do with my thumb in five minutes what would have otherwise taken hours in PhotoShop — and to the same net effect. This part is key. The most fun element of DA for me was the community interaction/comments, and it's still there in Instagram, super-fast, and in the same spirit... while my creation tools are always in my pocket, ready wherever I'm at. There are a couple of DA browsing apps I might explore for inspiration, and I still recommend the site for all the same reasons (they have a solid mobile version), but I'm not going to be losing interest in Instagram anytime soon. Come say hi sometime; I'll be over there as rsmithing.

Cats, flowers, architecture all figure prominently in my Instagram feed. Viewable here at Statigram.

What do you think is the most interesting aspect of Instagram? Where do you think it will be a year from now? Have you found yourself recently inspired or newly fascinated by/addicted to mobile photography? Tell us your experiences in the comments!

Klout = Krap?

In the past week, I've signed up for WordPress, actually blogged here (twice now), linked that to Klout, posted 20 pics via Instagram on Facebook/Twitter/Flickr while doubling followers, tweeted every day, conversed with influencers (both ways) on Twitter, gotten way more than usual hits on a Facebook post, posted in a writing discussion at Ragan.com via Twitter, checked in & tipped like a fiend in multiple states on Foursquare.... and — not that I care, mind you — my Klout score goes down by 5 points. WTF, Klout?

Really?

I'm serious about not caring; I truly believe any kind of "score," rating or whatever of a person's online relevance should be based on quality, not quantity. And I've definitely gotten some good out of Klout, just from a personal branding angle — it's motivated me to align my online presences at Flickr, YouTube, etc.

For anyone not familar with this suddenly important metric in the world of new media, Stephanie Rosenbloom of the New York Times writes:

If you have a Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn account, you are already being judged — or will be soon. Companies with names like Klout, PeerIndex and Twitter Grader are in the process of scoring millions, eventually billions, of people on their level of influence — or in the lingo, rating “influencers.” Yet the companies are not simply looking at the number of followers or friends you’ve amassed. Rather, they are beginning to measure influence in more nuanced ways, and posting their judgments — in the form of a score — online.

So I have to wonder what they're factoring in over there when my engagement and sharing have actually been higher this whole week. Again, not that any of this matters whatsoever. Oh, and please be sure to like/ retweet/ reblog/ photograph/ screenprint/ yadda, yadda.

Update, 10/27: Apparently I'm influential to someone over at Klout, because since this post they have revamped scoring. The image of my monitor included here on this day now no longer even looks like how it did in the picture. Interesting.

What do you think? Are you on Klout? Have you ever even heard of it? Or do you know your Klout score by heart and check it regularly/daily/hourly? Let us hear from you in the comments...

Arse Mything

Not sure that means anything, but I thought I should go ahead and get the pronunciation issue handled, so hey. Now that that's out of the way, on to rsmithing blogging.