I have officially launched new poi dancing and fire spinning photos and videos, along with a  whole new website, and a lot more. This represents a LOT of work (nobody will ever know just how much work), and it's definitely of appeal to those who don't do these arts. My new video, When Circles Dream, represents the work of many artists, and features a track by my friend Tarun Nayar. 

Enjoy, and if you like what you see, drop me a line :

nick 

 

I think social networking technologies will play a huge role in the evolution of culture and consciousness, on a planetary scale. I am excited by the popularity of social networking services, although I think some key things still have to happen. 

I like tribe.net because because a wide range of people use it. There are several other similar sites out there, all competing to get members. I'm not interested in joining the rest, as I don't even have time for tribe.

... and then my friend Rob told me I simply had to join zaadz. I was skeptical at first, but I checked it out, and I see potential. My biggest concern about zaadz, and the thing that could most limit its potential is this: you're a bunch of idealistic vegans! (er... so to speak).

Don't get me wrong, I like idealistic vegans. I also like raunchy Burning Man artists, and hip, urban designers who eat meat and understand the brand identity development process. I like tribe.net because its lack of aggressive ideals allows a broad spectrum of ideologies to co-mingle. It is this co-mingling that is the future of human consciousness. It's exactly what I find exciting about social networking. This is why I think the aggressively stated ideals of zaadz will limit its significance as a social networking portal... unless it finds a way out of the silo problem. I think zaadz can do that.

An example of the silo problem: homeofpoi.com is the most popular site about poi on the internet (poi is a movement art, involving swinging weights on strings). They have very active discussion forums, which are the secret of their success (visitor loyalty, stickiness, SEO, etc.). Many other poi sites have tried to launch equally popular discussion forums. Nobody has come close to homeofpoi.com, because homeofpoi.com is already the de-facto forum for the discussion of poi. It is unlikely that another site will do better than homeofpoi.com.

...another silo site, that is. The biggest competitor for homeofpoi.com is tribe.net, because it is is less of a silo. This adds a level of contagiousness to tribe.net poi discussions that homeofpoi.com poi discussions don't have. My tribe profile shows my poi related tribes and has beautiful poi and fire-spinning pictures. When I go to other tribes, perhaps about sufi poetry or meditation, the participants see my profile and are thus introduced to poi. On tribe.net, the poi communities are networked with all the other communities: rich social networking. For me, this makes makes tribe a much more interesting place to discuss poi.

I definitely don't want multiple accounts with multiple services, allowing me to network with various niche sectors of the spectrum of human consciousness. That would be ridiculous. Multiple sites actually diminish the overall potential of social networking. What we need is open relationship networking tools and standards. The current approach is like email, if you could only email other people who have accounts with the same service as you. Imagine having to have a gmail account for your gmail contacts, and a yahoo account for your yahoo contacts, etc.

So, what has to happen is this: We need social networking standards that allow zaadz and other social networking services to cross-reference. This will allow people to join the service that most represents their interests and needs, without limiting themselves to that service. The good news: This is happening as we speak. Check out the Echo Project as an example.

The question is: How does zaadz fit into this? Will zaadz be the birthplace and launching pad for cross-platform social networking and group-consciousness-facilitating technologies? Will it participate in exciting open-source development projects like Drupal? I sure hope so. At the very least I hope that it jumps upon and utilizes such technologies.

So that's my vision of the future of zaadz: Not a silo, not a box that we crawl into, but a perch, a place where we can discuss these themes and goals, whilst keeping connected to all our other friends and relations who are busy with their own part of the global puzzle. This would make zaadz, and anything discussed, managed, or launched on zaadz, more contagious and more significant.

Thanks for reading :)

nick