mmmm Melty

Anyone who uses a grilled cheese sandwich as a metaphor is OK in my book.  Ed Van Herik does just that in his recent post entitled “Who Melted my Cheese?”  Ed gives us a nice reminder that social media web 2.0 is not really , about predictable algorithms, but about reinserting the the mutable (and powerful) human element.  No tool can substitute for having something interesting to say, nor can any program yet effectively substitute for the very human mission of building a community.  It is our idiosyncrasies and adaptability that are our best assets in this changing media landscape. We must put them to practice however, to sharpen our skills, yes, but also to nurture our own social web (social safety net?).  Much as I love a melty cheese sandwich, I like the metaphor of a garden:  you can’t expect to plant a single seed and grow a prize-winning bloom.  Nor can you control the weather.  What you can do is tend to your little patch of land, nurture it, plant seeds, feed it, weed it, and encourage a little cross-pollination.  Because it is a process not of automation, but of attention that will be resilient and adaptable as the seasons (and the fads) change.