the iCite net > news / blog > a permalink

news and thoughts on and around the development of the iCite net
by Jay Fienberg

Navigating through information crowds: the San Mateo County Fair, part 2

posted: Aug 17, 2003 11:36:44 PM

on a stick This is the conclusion to my previous post, The grand unified theory of TRDBMS, OO, XML, RDF, client/server and the web: the San Mateo County Fair, part 1. Like part 1, part 2 is mostly about the pictures I took yesterday at the San Mateo County Fair.

frozen coke The Internet is seemingly an infinite domain of information, but nevertheless, meaning remains in relatively short supply. Meaning continues to be crowded into information—the same information can mean a lot of different things.

duck crowd It is interesting trying to navigate through large crowds of people. There is a lot of communication going on, most of it through subtle body language. You and another person are approaching each other head-on, and there is no room for anything other than one of you moving one step in one direction and the other moving one step in the other direction: who moves and who moves which way?

body language There is a lot of room for misunderstanding the meaning of subtle body language. Gestures can mean different things in different contexts.

So, in any language, when there is space to do so, creating protocols is a way to provide a context that overrides the need to discriminate among or interpret the subtleties of meaning. For example, in the US, when two cars approach head-on, the protocol is that each car veers to its right to avoid the other. (In the UK, each car veers to its left, of course.)

coupons With protocols like this, the need for interpreting meaning is, in some sense, eliminated. At the very least, it is overridden by the protocol: whatever is interpreted, the protocol determines the action.

In a crowd of people—especially if those people are assembled together out of the diverse contexts of their private or provincial routines of protocol, there is little choice but to navigate in a field where many protocols coexist and, at any given moment, many of them aren't being followed or understood.

exit Protocol and the assumption of meaning both affect navigation in the crowd. But, neither protocol nor any assumed or even agreed meanings can stay static. Successful navigation is in the ability to dynamically adapt between the modes of expressing protocol and meaning.

permalink | comments {0} · trackbacks {0}

also available as: rss · rss2 · rdf · atom

Comments and Tracbacks

Note: All comments and trackbacks are moderated. Spam is deleted. Other comments are approved as promptly as possible.

Note: Older posts no longer accept new comments or trackbacks.

« prev post
The grand unified theory of TRDBMS, OO, XML, RDF, client/server and the web: the San Mateo County Fair, part 1

» next post
Day one in a big company

blog newsfeeds

brief content:

 XML  ·  RSS  ·  RDF  ·  Atom 


full content:

 XML  ·  RSS  ·  RDF  ·  Atom 


blog archive

2006:
jan · feb · mar · apr
may · jun · jul · aug 
sep · oct · nov · dec
		
2005:
jan · feb · mar · apr
may · jun · jul · aug
sep · oct · nov · dec

2004:
jan · feb · mar · apr
may · jun · jul · aug
sep · oct · nov · dec

2003:
may · jun · jul · aug
sep · oct · nov · dec

first post: 
April 30, 2003

highlight views:
Spammers' Choice
		

Jay elsewhere online
Jay Fienberg - the official home page

Wrong Notes - the music blog of the Ear Reverends

Fine & Full, aka, a fine and full burger

Sociomobilepoetextologia (moblog, currently inactive due to lack of proper mobile)

to enjoy roll
sites I like to read when I start from here

· Anastasia Fuller
· Andy Baio
· Biz Stone
· Boris Mann
· Bre Pettis
· Chris Dent
· Danny Ayers
· Dare Obasanjo
· David Czarnecki
· David Weinberger
· Don Park
· Evan Williams
· Greg Narain
· Jason Kottke
· Jim Benson
· Lucas Gonze
· Marc Canter
· Matt May
· Matt Mullenweg
· Michal Migurski
· Nancy White
· Rebecca Blood
· Reg Cheramy
· Richard MacManus
· Sam Ruby
· Shelley Powers
· Tim Bray
· danah boyd


powered by blojsom


Entries by blojsim