The new raw materials of the data age

HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/
SUSANBRANDSTUDIO/

The new raw materials
and data chemistry
Chris Thorpe

Jaggeree
The new raw materials and data chemistry /think/help/create/work

HTTP://WWW.SLIDESHARE.NET/
KATYLINDEMANN/SOCIAL-MEDIA-09-
DEMYSTIFYING-SOCIAL-
MEDIA-2492522

THERE!S
NO SUCH THING
AS SOCIAL MEDIA

Jaggeree

Katy Lindemann said something interesting and totally true at Social Media 09, it was my
favourite thing of the day

MASHUPDIGITAL/

social media is made of people, not media

Jaggeree

the thing we call social media is not really a media at all. it’s tools and protocols on the
technology end and just people and behaviour on the human layer

what “media” there is in this space is in things which will act as gifts

JAGGEREE/

it is about human interactions, mediated through technology

Jaggeree

This image says a lot to me about how simple pieces of technology act as enablers or
catalysts

Times Square was recently pedestrianised

No one knew what to do with it though before someone put some seats there

Technology facilitated human behaviour and interaction which would eventually have
happened

WALLYG/

Jaggeree

One reason why we call things names like social media or give them short descriptions is
because of a property of mass media

We’ve got used to short hand and labels

SCMILBLICK/

mass media and 20th century is all about making something easy to describe

Jaggeree

which we have to have as mass media makes us obsessed with making things easy to
describe

SCMILBLICK/

it is about bandwidth scarcity and soundbites

Jaggeree

if you have a limited amount of time and bandwidth you need to make things easy to
understand quickly

for a large part of the 20th century we had bandwidth scarcity, such as only 3 TV channels
and so you had to reduce things to a minimum to get a message across

Jaggeree

six blades are clearly better than ﬁve or god forbid four or three and well two blades or one,
just forget it

you can’t explain really why your thing is better than another thing unless there is more of it,
or it has a science bit with made up words

ERICHARMATZ/

Jaggeree

and we’ve plastering every space with messages hoping just one will catch the eye and stick
for a large part of the last century

this is pretty similar to many websites we can all mention

Jaggeree

crazy thinking like this

I don’t want to dominate conversations or for anyone to feel my Twitter Power

it’s just ridiculous

Jaggeree

to me all these thoughts peaked about 1977, Morecambe and Wise Christmas Show. when
there was bandwidth scarcity and attention abundance

and it all relates to one simple thing, which actually is in some ways wrong

BALOULUMIX/

something odd shaped which is constantly changing is hard to describe

Jaggeree

we tend to try describe complex things in very very simplistic ways

such as this is New York rather than trying to describe the buildings within the skyline

ALPHAUNDOMIKRON/

unless lots of people do it from individual points of view

Jaggeree

but we can describe them very accurately collectively from a wide variety of points of view, we
can deconstruct them and reconstruct them

FRANCESCOMINCIOTTI/

we are now living in an age of bandwidth abundance and attention scarcity

Jaggeree

and we now have the ability to describe everything in intense detail and personally,

all we need to do is work out discovery mechanisms and pass on mechanisms

JAGGEREE/

The Millenium Bridge

Jaggeree

so for instance instead of just looking at this bridge and just saying it’s The Millenium Bridge

JAGGEREE/

steel cables

largely water

concrete pillar

Jaggeree

we could start looking at the components, and if enough people do it then we can build a
really complex map of it and how we each individually and collectively like and dislike
elements of it

HTTP://RETAILTECH.BLOGS.COM/
JIM/2008/06/A-POST-OF-A-POSTER-
FOR-OBAMA.HTML

our new tools, the elements of the data age allow us to collectively paint complex pictures

Jaggeree

we have new and exciting tools which help lower the barriers to creating, curating, linking,
sharing

we also have some new raw materials to make things with

Jaggeree

so what are these new elements I’m talking about, we all remember this diagram from school

JAGGEREE/

Jaggeree

new materials have profound effects on society, cast iron and steel made New York a
possibility

JAGGEREE/

Jaggeree

And reinforced concrete has given us new forms of architecture hithertoo impossible

CHEMHERITAGE/

Jaggeree

and new materials such as bakelite transformed the mass creation of household products

45131642@N00/

Jaggeree

plastic gave us lego and airﬁx (and I suppose a few more useful things)

JAGGEREE/

new raw materials for new products and a new manufacturing industry

Jaggeree

I think we have some new raw materials which will have a profound effect on the way we do
business, the way we vote, the way we make products, the way we run charities, the way we
are

FLAVIO_FERRARI/

“the datalide elements”

Jaggeree

they are elements of our world and reﬂections of our world and ourselves

WISHYMOM/

Jaggeree

one is identity, who we are

WISHYMOM/

Identium
115

Id
Jaggeree

one is identity, who we are and it is through sites like Twitter and Facebook allowing your
identity to move between places becoming powerful and pervasive

JMCPHOTOS/

Jaggeree

another is intent

JMCPHOTOS/

Intentium
116

It
Jaggeree

saying what we are going to do, are doing, have done

FRANCESCO/

Jaggeree

our attention,

FRANCESCO/

Attentium
117

An
Jaggeree

ﬂocking like birds around the internet, sharing links and passing on information and giving
promises of other people’s possible attention as a gift

JAGGEREE/

Jaggeree

our location

JAGGEREE/

Locatium
118

Lc
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telling services, friends, family where we are

MWBOECKMANN/

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and our feelings

MWBOECKMANN/

Sentimentium
119

Se
Jaggeree

our sentiment, how we feel personally, how we feel about things, people, content, places

NIHONBUNKA/

Jaggeree

and the data which we all produce almost constantly

NIHONBUNKA/

Leftoverium
120

Lo
Jaggeree

the waste product of our digital connected lifestyle which is rich if we open it up and hunt for
value within it

PAUL_CLARKE/

Jaggeree

so now we have these new things and we can almost see the dawn of a new era

E01/

Jaggeree

and by turning our organisations inside out and think of it as the people inside engaging
directly with the people outside instead of through the small conduits of marketing, PR and
customer services we can have a greater link with the people who buy our products and
services

CHIJS/

Jaggeree

instead of running focus groups to answer questions we’ve thought of

119 116

Se + It
Jaggeree

we can combine sentiment and intention to tell us all about what people think of us and what
they’re likely to buy from us

Jaggeree

like this plaything I made at The Guardian to analyse and facet all the twitter messages from
The Future of Web Apps conference so we could see what people thought of us and my talk
and also to look for where our message was wrong or where people wanted to reach out

CAFEMAMA/

Jaggeree

and instead of spending a lot of time trying to understand who your fans are and what they
like through surveys

CAFEMAMA/

115 117

Id + An
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why not invite them to use their existing identities when they talk to you and engage on your
site and then look for what they share with their friends

CAUTION: ugly prototype ahead

Jaggeree

I’ve been playing with the backtweets API, looking at people who point at Guardian content

BASHFORD/

Jaggeree

and instead of trying to second guess where we might need to send supplies of products,
such for example Tamiﬂu

BASHFORD/

118 120

Lc + Lo
Jaggeree

you could use left over data, like the information from searches on Google and the location of
those people to predict areas where the drugs are likely to start to be needed

Jaggeree

and Google have been making ﬂu trends maps based on speciﬁc search terms

ROOREYNOLDS/

Jaggeree

location and sentiment is a good deﬁnition of protest

a place and a sentiment against something

ROOREYNOLDS/

118 119

Lc + Se
Jaggeree

which can be replicated online perfectly

Jaggeree

as shown in the aftermath of Traﬁgura and Carter Ruck gagging The Guardian from talking
about a question in parliament

FOURWALKS/

Jaggeree

and instead of trying to condense a whole story into a short video or programme

FOURWALKS/

118 119

Lc + Se
Jaggeree

we can combine location and sentiment to tell complex stories

Jaggeree

like my recent walking trip to Austria which I turned into a fundraising exercise for the lovely
Childs I who are making a wonderful transitional babies home in Africa a reality

Jaggeree

I combined images and tweets

Jaggeree

and my personal geography through an android app which sent my current location back to
the site to tell the story of my walk

from: childsi
@fourwalks raised £120 of target £500 as he
completes first walk. Please support @jaggeree
& @childsi http://www.justgiving.com/
fourwalks/

Jaggeree

which became bidirectional with people following me and the charity telling me how I was
doing on fundraising

Jaggeree

someone described it as a social media hike

it wasn’t a social media hike (and I’m not ragging on Dan Slee) I went on a walk and talked
about it in real time

I could have documented it and told people about it when I got home, or phoned people. I
was just walking

CHRIS/

it’s not magic, it just shortens space and time

Jaggeree

what was happening was a basic principle of this collection of tools, they shorten space and
time

they’re not magical, they’re just human interaction at a different scale

NEILJS/

Jaggeree

these are not mechanisms of the 20th century mass media which is broadcast and outwards
only with the return path disconnected

CELPELLY/

Jaggeree

they are more the mechanisms of the village, where there is a direct connection between
makers, suppliers and consumers

however the internet and the technologies we now possess enable these new versions of old
mechanisms at distance and scale never before acheived

the technologies we have enable us to communicate as we ever have, they change only one
thing, they shorten time and space

JAGGEREE/

Jaggeree

all of the elements I’ve talked about before are ones which are tangible as data, I can ﬁnd
them, acquire them, buy access to them even... they all come from the outside, they are true
raw materials

there’s one which is unpurchasable, but it is essential in this new world, made with new
things

JAMIN2/

Jaggeree

and Paul Clarke has it

BENWARD/

Jaggeree

and James Darling

JAMIN2/

Jaggeree

and Emma Mulqueeny

PAUL_CLARKE/

Jaggeree

and Robert Brook

JAGGEREE/

Jaggeree

and Wilfred Cass

CHILDSI/

Jaggeree

and Lucy Buck of Childs I

CHILDSI/

Authenticium
121

Ac
Jaggeree

this magical element authenticity and for me the only real way to convey this in images is to
talk about it as a human thing and point at some people I feel are inspirational to me and
authentic.

it is so key and it is why the social web, social software, real-time media, participatory
culture, the network society call it what you like is changing how people buy things and ﬁnd
services and recommend them to people

HTTP://FASTERFUTURE.
BLOGSPOT.COM/

Jaggeree

and this lack of authenticity is why people are switching away from traditional advertising and
listening to friends recommendations again

no one is looking at this billboard, no matter how racy the image or how startling it is to see
OMFG on the side of a building

JAGGEREE/

Jaggeree

this is an advert for Virgin Health clubs I found in Holborn Tube station, I love the
commentary on the lack of authenticity

JAGGEREE/

Jaggeree

JAGGEREE/

Jaggeree

and there was even all you’d ﬁnd in any discussion forum going on in real life on the poster

this is authentic and real and it’s wonderful that it’s on something totally fake

JIMMEDIAART/

Jaggeree

there is one ﬁnal thing I wanted to say about these materials

inventors and garden sheds have a long history

the difference between these new materials and many other new materials from the past is all
you need is the digital and physical equivalent of the garden shed to make new things at a
really large scale

FLAVIO_FERRARI/

Chris Thorpe
@jaggeree

Jaggeree

The new raw materials of the data age

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