As the pandemic emerged in 2020 I sought credible information and advice first from institutions and authorities and later from a network of expertise — encouraged to do-your-own-research — in view of growing misinformation and disinformation, even from authorities like the CDC and WHO. I am not the only person to turn to a networked… Read more »
Posts By: Harold Jarche
mastodon musings
On the last Friday of each month I curate some of the observations and insights that were shared on social media. I call these Friday’s Finds. Since 2009 many of these finds have come via Twitter. Given the current state of chaos on that platform — whither Twitter — more of my finds will be coming… Read more »
start planting
Social learning is a regular topic on this blog and I gave a presentation on the power of social learning earlier this year. The following quotes show how learning from and with each other is a critical part of human and societal development. “Learning would be exceedingly laborious, not to mention hazardous, if people had… Read more »
platform collapse
The robber barons of the 21st century are the platform owners. They have combined the power of network effects with a 20th century corporate capitalist, winner-takes-all approach. Amazon is choking the book publishing industry, Google is dominating advertising, and telecommunications companies are using their control of the pipes to directly compete with service providers. Now… Read more »
learning & innovating networks
Innovation comes from the edge, almost never from the centre, I wrote in moving to the edges (2014). But I noted that our inherent — human — need for a sense of belonging can keep us in the centre and detract us from thinking critically and questioning the assumptions of our existing structures. While some… Read more »
GPT-3 through a glass darkly
I have been using the tetrad (four sides) derived from Marshall & Eric McLuhan’s Laws of Media for several decades. I find it useful for examining emerging technologies, beyond the hype. For example, according to Derrick de Kerckhove, Director of the McLuhan Program in Culture & Technology at the University of Toronto, the Laws of… Read more »
meaningful work
Kourish Dini says that, “Mastery and meaningful work develop from guided play.” This is pretty well the direction behind my personal knowledge mastery framework and the notion of ‘half-baked ideas‘. “There is an error in our focus on productivity. I may even be labeled as a productivity talking-head. I’ve more than likely made the error… Read more »
“the future cracked open”
Race Bannon sees AI (or really machine learning) changing many jobs, such as technical writing, in the near future. “I believe within 5-10 years much of technical documentation will be written by AI. Certainly, the basic procedural stuff (Step 1, Step 2, and so on) will be written by AI, but even the contextual stuff… Read more »
exit left authoritarian father figure
John Batelle notes that many of the thousands of people who were fired from or have left Twitter after Musk’s purchase of the company were women. He provides links to the profiles of 17 of these women. “Twitter was probably the most intentionally open, accommodating, and thoughtful work culture the Valley has ever produced at… Read more »
PKM in perpetual beta
I recently wrote — from platforms to covenants — that I firmly believe that open protocols connecting small pieces loosely joined is a better framework than any privately owned social media platform. Twitter was just too darned easy for many years. I am now connecting more on Mastodon though I have not mastered all of… Read more »
Our Community of Practice
e-book series
Recent Conversations