Monthly Archives: May 2003

On Liz’s Bet

After waking at an absurdly early hour this morning, i briefly checked in with various blogs that i check in with only to find Liz’s bet. Of course, it got me all contemplative, at 8AM and then i remembered that i was up at that hour to go to a meeting and had to rush off before being able to articulate why i think that Liz is correct – in 3 months time, women will represent only 10% of the participants in the top 500 of those on LinkedIn.

Frankly, i’d extend her bet to include all marginalized populations in the business structure (people of color, queer folks, etc.). I would bank that these populations would be farther underrepresented on LinkedIn than they are in the real world (where they are poorly represented to begin with). Personally, i believe that genuine changes are needed for LinkedIn to be widely effective.

In an ideal world, we’d live in a meritocratic society where someone’s value in the job process is based on their previous jobs, which are inherently based on skills. But we don’t live in that world. We live in one where social networks are everything. LinkedIn appears to be trying to allow people to find each other through their merits (under the assumption that you are connected) and then give you the the social network to contact that person; normally, this is done the other way around.

The problem is that their approach emphasizes a limited perspective of the individual. There is no consideration for a person’s education, their personal interests, or most of all, presenting their character. The only character component is through the linkages. Since character is determined through linkages, you have to decide to request an introduction before you figure out through which path they are connected. This is problematic because people rely on their assessment of my friends’ expertise to evaluate whether or not they would trust their opinion of a friend. While my HR friends could help me find a great HR person, i wouldn’t trust their opinion on a programmer.

This is not specific to LinkedIn or job markets. In Friendster, i have added many people whose friends i would be wary of dating. On the other hand, through surfing the system, people whose friends i would automatically discount seemed to shed new light on my friend. But it is unreasonable to assume that i would trust any of my connection’s connections.

LinkedIn does not allow you to navigate the structure. They see this as a feature, but i see it as a fatal flaw. Women, minorities and other underrepresented groups are notorious high self-monitors. Generally speaking, they are unlikely to put themselves out blindly, to cold call or to message someone without knowing the path that they’re dealing with. They are unlikely to evaluate and then approach someone simply through their self-professed professional listing. There are no testimonials, no validation of the individual ahead of time. Mostly, there’s little to grasp onto other than jobl listings. (Women are notorious for getting to know a potential employee/collaborator on topics other than work to get a common grounding for power purposes.) Yet, the biggest problem is that the mechanism for surfing the network emphasizes one’s numerical worth because the system lists people in order of their number of connections. Searching based on anything meaningful is impossible; you can’t even search by name to find out if a known friend is on the system. Frankly, most women don’t feel the need to show their worth numerically, and often feel slighted in a situation where they are expected to.

Jessica argues that one of the problems is that networks are self-selecting. I would agree with her, but Friendster reminds me that women are quite comfortable inviting people and connecting them, but the first priority is social (although i’ve noticed that friends of mine have found job connections on Friendster as well as dates). For women, the social is inherently part of the professional. The problem is the format, the UI, the feeling that the system presents. My female friends were by far the more viral in their habits on Friendster than my male friends. Yet, even the most viral Friendster female friend of mine got bored and annoyed with LinkedIn within moments and hasn’t logged back in since.

I suspect that, even with effort in inviting women, LinkedIn has little appeal for women. They are the most sufficient at negotiating their social networks, but they do so systematically and via the network first.

matrix build-up

I refuse to read anything about The Matrix: Reloaded prior to seeing the film tomorrow night. I won’t read reviews, analysis or even watch the trailers online (although i have seen them in theatres). I know it’s going to blow my mind, but i don’t want to pre-think the movie so as to maximize my joy tomorrow.

That said, i’m told that i must read “The Gospel According to Neo” and thus, i’ll blog it to save it for tomorrow.

I have to admit that i haven’t been so excited for a movie opening since 8 Mile. OK, so i have a bit of an odd slant on movie attendance. First, i try to see all movies that i desperately want to see on opening night; i never read about them ahead of time if i can avoid it. I feel the hype, but i refuse to educate myself about it. I try to see movies in a location that will maximize the audience along any appropriate dimensions for the movie.

I think that going to the movies is not simply to see a film on the big screen, but to see it in the context of the audience most obsessed with the film. Thus, i spend just as much time watching the movie as paying attention to reactions. I come early enough to watch the crowd. I sit quietly in the theatre so as to overhear what audience members are talking about. I always go to the bathroom and take as long as socially acceptable so as to hear folks’ reactions. I love going to see any movie that appeals to specific subset of the population, preferably a subculture, preferably one with obsessive followings that coincide with the movie. Thus, i was ecstatic to see 8 Mile when it came out… in Revere, Mass. The audience was filled with white hiphop teens who are obsessed with Eminem, who are middle class but see Eminem’s struggle as similar to their own.

Of course, nothing will ever top the opening of Quills. Wednesday before Thanksgiving, special opening in Manhattan… uptown. I was the youngest audience member by about half and the poorest by a lot more than half. When i went to the bathroom afterwards, i lingered for so long, drooling in my stall as upperclass socialites of Manhattan talked about the validity of the representation of the Marquis and sadomasochism in comparison to books, other movies and stories; this was all voiced in that fabulously snooty New York accent with a clear knowledge of SM. I couldn’t get the off my face for weeks.

Anyhow, the next two days of Matrix showings should be quite fun!

why i despise clubs

I’ve been on house arrest all week, writing a paper, but after spending all night Friday up writing, i needed a break on Saturday. I spent the day in Golden Gate with friends listening to music, but it was more of a chill outdoors with friends situation. Most of my friends like music, but not psytrance, so in a fit of expanding my horizons, i went out with them to a club playing house/breaks/trance. This was not the wisest of ideas because it reaffirmed my hatred of clubs and made me much less likely to try to branch out music-wise, simply because i would never want to deal with that type of crowd again. In the process of grounding my emotional reaction to the environment, it seems only reasonable to write some of my thoughts down.

When we arrived at the club, there was a huge line. Luckily, it’s San Francisco so this means simple patience in relatively mild outdoor weather. My line buddy and i just kept repeating ‘stay patient’ to one another. Unfortunately, my attempts at calmness are easily swayed by others’ anxiety and the line was filled with people bitching, moaning and otherwise producing great tension. This was only magnified by the bouncers who were certainly on a mission to confirm their masculinity. I really like nice, relaxed bouncers, but then again, they don’t get paid to be sweet. By the time i got into the club 40 minutes later, i was definitely rattled. The club was split into multiple music sections with large bars in between. In fact, i would go so far as to say that it was a very large bar with a few small areas for dancing. There was no consistent energy and the entire club felt like a collection of conflicting purposes. Some people were there to dance, some to get drunk, some to be seen, and some to get laid. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a lot of awareness about others’ motivations and thus these energies were constantly colliding and producing a very unstable state.

I tried dancing, but it was too crowded so i started wandering and talking to folks that i knew. Every time i was between people or walking, i had to deal with very predatory gazes and in a few cases, being grabbed at my shoulder to turn me around to deal with a strange man who wanted my attention. Being painfully exhausted, my feeling of safety quickly deteriorated when a very drunk guy pushed me into the men’s bathroom probably to point out an empty stall after he saw me eyeing the boys bathroom. Perhaps he was trying to be kind, but it was still aggressive and uncomfortable and i had to dart past him to get out of there.

I tracked down a friend of mine who was equally unthrilled. We both pulled our hoodies over our head and stared out at the Bay chatting at how unthrilling this environment was. She had gotten dragged along by all of us… she hates clubs, she hates dancing and i have to imagine that if this is the only version she knows (since all of her friends are into house/breaks/trance), i don’t blame her one bit. The motivating forces seemed fine in this space, but those of us who got convinced to come left shortly later.

Environment trumps everything for me. Even in my love of psytrance, i have to *really* like the DJ to go to a club (like Infected Mushroom). And for the most part, psytrance clubs don’t even get that bad… a few sketchy guys, some people who don’t seem to know why they’re there, but mostly just too many people packed into an environment to effectively dance. Although i love my music, i hate feeling trapped and usually a club gives me the feeling of being in a bird cage, unable to get away, unable to find a place just to relax for a bit and then go back to dancing.

::sigh:: And because of my crash-and-burn in participating in something new, i still don’t know whether i would enjoy dancing to my friends’ music… but i do know that i won’t just go anywhere.

how do you use Friendster?

I’ve really enjoyed watching the Friendster meme percolate. I’m trying to get a grasp on how people are using it, why they like it, what they’re doing with it and as many anecdotes as possible that will help me grasp usage. Free free to send me your random thoughts or perhaps answer some of the questions that are floating in my head.

[updated 05/12] Good public commentaries on Friendster:
– Adam Greenfield
– An addict’s perspective by Terbo Ted

[updated 6/4] vanderwal on Ryze vs. Friendster

Continue reading →

defending wikis

Wikis seem to becoming more and more popular. Or perhaps i’m just spending too much time entrenched in the philosophy of the social software folks. In any case, i was trying to discuss them with a friend of mine and we both have our concerns about them. Not being able to defend them and unaware of where to go for a really good and trusted defense, i decided to write to two gurus whose views fascinate me. But i’d also love to hear perspectives from anyone foolish enough to stumble on this site. Here’s what i wrote:

So, i’d love to hear your arguments of why wikis are the latest greatest social software (or pointers to folks who can defend this vantage point).

Particular issues that we’re struggling with and trying to figure out how to process…

1) History means more than persistence. When we’re collaborating offline, we leave lots of traces of our use, of our presences, etc. What is the value in a no-trace environment like wikis? How is this an advantage?

2) Social kudos often motivate people to participate. Being recognized for their voice. More importantly, it motivates folks to be more articulate, more conscientious, etc. How is it an advantage to not have voices attached with text? What is gained and lost?

3) In collaboration where everyone is motivated to “do right”, there’s little motivation to sabatage others’ efforts. But if you’ve ever seen teenagers collaborate, dear me oh my. Can we say that it is an exercise in cruelness to force collaboration on teens in middle school? How are stuctures built so as to discourage malicious intentions?

4) In collaborations, there is often a lot of rituals of getting to know one another, particularly if there is not a history of past relations. How do wikis support unknown colleagues to get involved?