[NetBehaviour] An interview with Geert Lovink

[Rob Myers]

On 02/10/15 07:21 AM, Randall Packer wrote:
> Rob, this is an interesting point and one I have been thinking a lot
> about: why are new media discussions using list software that is perhaps
> 20 years old, which don’t allow for the possibilities of embedded media,
> avatars, search, database, etc. (I know there is a Web version of this,
> but who looks at?) For me, there is a paradox here.

Some of this is merely generational. The same as any other medium once
it's colonized the next generation (and we're talking Internet years
here) finds a new space to make their own.

> Many complain about
> the glut of email in their lives, and yet lists are perhaps the number
> one producer of email for those who subscribe to lists.

I regularly unsubscribe from mailing lists that aren't useful to me. I
also have separate work and personal email accounts. For various values
of personal. :-)

> Is it because
> email is still our main channel of communication, the go to for
> correspondence, discussion, social media notifications, etc?

I'm told all the kids are on snapchat now.

And if I receive one more wild-eyed invitation to a slack channel I'm
going to classify it as a cult. ;-)

> Matt
Mullenweg, the founder of Wordpress, never uses email for business
communication, rather P2, a bulletin board web-based interface where he
can follow everyone’s conversations in a threaded, searchable
environment. He claims this to be the future of social networks, and I
tend to agree, but it takes commitment among the community to learn to
use the new tools. I am not condemning listserves here, they serve a
great purpose and they are super-easy to use. However, we all have to
admit it is an antiquated system and there is no reason really not to
overhaul the whole thing and move into the 21st century.

I enjoy the discursive firehose of mailing lists for topics I'm really
interested in. This is different from chat, and I can't stand bulletin
board interfaces, they're less efficient. But modern mailing list
software allows bulletin board views onto the same discussion, so me
liking the one doesn't prevent anyone else liking the other and vice versa.

- Rob.