Cowbird Curiosities By Mariana Pote
We have been following Jonathan Harris' work for a while now and were particularly interested in Cowbird, a major endeavour that Jonathan recently launched. This new line of participatory journalism/come storytelling intrigued us, so we approached Jonathan who kindly accepted to answer a few questions. Cowbird is slightly different from his earlier projects, in that it is an open tool that anyone can use, rather than curated content. This means Cowbird will develop and grow in its own organic way, and we look forward to this! We suggest you have a look at the personal stories that are already on Cowbird (scroll down to the stories Jonathan highlighted in the interview - see links below) and then have a read at what Jonathan shared with us about this project:
C: How did you arrive at Cowbird? JH: I noticed that the pace of communication had been getting shorter and faster. From letters, to phone calls, to faxes, to emails, to chats, to texts, to tweets, self expression had been getting more and more compressed. But it wasn't clear if there would be another level of compression after the tweet. It
seemed we had reached a terminal velocity, and that we were about to bounce back in the opposite direction, suddenly craving more depth. So I wanted to build a place on the Web that would be more conducive to self-reflection and deeper connection -- a place for the kind of longer-lasting storytelling that had been washed away by the social web's relentless promise of "newness". C: What expectations did you have when you launched it and how has this changed since the stories began coming in? JH: I was very nervous before launching Cowbird. After devoting more than two years of my life to building it, I was worried that it would fall flat, that people would not want to use it, and that it would seem to be asking too much of people in a world accustomed to the "fast and easy" self-expression of Twitter and Facebook. Since releasing Cowbird, the response has been overwhelmingly positive. This deeper kind of storytelling seems to resonate with many people right now, and there has been a tremendous outpouring of interest and support in the project. Thousands of people have submitted applications to join our small community of storytellers, and many of the stories that people have been telling are downright stunning. These are a few of my favorites: http://cowbird.com/story/1732, http://cowbird.com/story/5628, http://cowbird.com/story/4127, http://cowbird.com/story/2822, http://cowbird.com/story/3746, http://cowbird.com/story/4120 C: How is this different from other participatory journalism projects? JH: The main difference is in tone. The kind of storytelling that is happening on Cowbird is honest, heartfelt, and personal. I think there is no other place on the Web with the kind of stories that people are telling on Cowbird. C: How do you see the relationship between text and image in Cowbird? JH: On Cowbird, text and image work together as equal partners. Not so much a caption supporting a photograph, but a story standing on its own, enhanced by the presence of an image. The image provides a doorway into the text. And the text adds depth to the image. C: What is your dream for Cowbird?
JH: My dream is to build a public library of human experience, in dozens of languages, filled with beautiful stories from millions of people all over the world. C: Would you say your projects are idealist? JH: Yes, I think so. With my projects, I try to appeal to the very best in people. Many things today don't do this. Indeed, many websites today don't do this. Many websites are designed to appeal to the base qualities of people, with a deep understanding of addictive psychology, dopamine release, and our lust for novelty, self-promotion, and incessantly comparisons to others. Cowbird tries to avoid these base elements, and instead tries to appeal to what is good and pure in us -- the ability to feel empathy, the chance to be more aware, a hunger to be better people through kindness and learning and patience. C: Are there things about the internet/technology that worry you? What? JH: I worry that the Internet is becoming like a giant shopping mall, serving up junk food experiences designed to be addictive. These forces are strong, and they can make companies and the people who run them incredibly rich. But it is so important to resist introducing these kinds of experiences into the world. As software engineers, we need to realize that we are really social engineers, and that the software we design, if it becomes successful, will have a far-reaching impact on human behavior at the species level. Therefore, it is so important to design software systems that appeal to the best in people -- that encourage us to be better. This is a slow food, not fast food, approach to technology. C: How do you feel storytelling has changed? JH: Our brain chemistry has changed. We no longer have the time or attention to read 700-page novels or listen to 8-hour operas. Some small percentage of people will always do these things, and that is fine, but if you want to create messages and experiences with broad resonance, then you need to do it in the language of your time. In the 1930s, that meant books. In the 1960s, that meant rock and roll music. In the 1980s, that meant television. Now, that means software. Storytelling needs to adapt to changing languages and changing social norms. It is not about longer storytelling, but longer-lasting storytelling. C: How do you see the relationship between people and technology (would be nice to know a bit more about your views on this)? JH: Technology is that which extends the natural capabilities and urges of the human body. A hammer is an extension of the arm. A piano is an extension of
the voice. A social network is an extension of the desire to connect. This is classic Marshall McLuhan. When designing technological tools, you need to decide which natural urge of the human body you are extending. This is a big responsibility. Choose your urges wisely. C: Thank you Jonathan!
17/01/2012