Curated by: Luigi Canali De Rossi
 


Thursday, May 15, 2003

The Road To Communication Agents

I am trying to define as well as I can what is the road to becoming effective Communication Agents.

I am therefore opening also this thread to your comments and feedback as it would serve me well to see things from as many perspectives as possible.

Feel free therefore to copy and paste my list below into the comments area and to play with it to your satisfaction. That would make this a useful process for both.

Here are what I see as being the stages or roles that an interconnected individual can decide to take on. Initially, it would appear to me that there is indeed a sequence or rather a set of stages which a Communication Agent would likely go through. It is also perfectly fine that some of these roles remain static for individuals that identify within them their actual mission.

So while there would be movers through these stages there would also be specialized individuals dedicated to perform passionately in one specific stage/role.

The idea needs to berefined a lot, but as we refine it, it would allow some of us to better understand the overall process at work and to refine further our strategies to integrate ourselves in it.

1) Passers-on
As they are already well networked and interconnected "Passers-on" receive a lot of messages and see many sites. They redistribute and send out much of what they find and repute interesting, humorous, and of possible interest to others.

2) Filterers
Filterers are Passers-on with a specific interest. They pre-filter and select interesting info bits to be spread to a limited community of like-minded people. Such mini-networks brought to life by one individual do not ususally go beyond 150 people.

3) Hunters
Hunters go out proactively to search information and new resources by investing systematic time in this effort. Hunters have all the qualities and virtues of Passers-on and Filterers while integrating good search, synthesis and summarization skills.

4) Publishers
Publishers pick out the best that Hunters provide and post, email and publish online on their Web sites key information items, stories and resources that are of value and complement to their own mission or to the purpose of their network of interest.

5) Aggregators
Aggregators harmonize complementary resources, tools, ideas, and actual content to create:
a) easier access to specialized knowledge
b) mini-guides, tutorials, dossiers and reports on specific topics
c) specialized knowledgebases and directories

6) Independent Reporters
Reporters make a living off the Publisher role and take on specialized research, investigative and reporting skills. Reporters create their own magazines, newsletters, reports, books, audiotapes and videos. They participate in workshops and conferences and take a very active role in educating and explaining information in their areas of expertise.

7) Communication Agents
Communication Agents understand the overall communication process at work on this planet. They have long studied and invested extensive personal time, passion and resources to play, tinker, experiment and discover which tools, methods and tactics provide the most efficient, speediest and widest effects.
Communication Agents understand that they hold digital weapons with which they can peacefully overcome apparently much larger and resisting forces.

Where do you fit?

At what level are you?

Do you see gaps? Can you suggest improvements?

 

 

"Knowledge defends you against every form of harm in existence.
If you think of the word knowledge what kind of boundaries or limitations can you see it describe? Any?

If so, what do you think is the value of that word (knowledge)?

Infinite?."

 
 
Readers' Comments    
2003-05-14 23:14:17

Sepp

1) Passers-on
As they are already well networked and interconnected "Passers-on" receive a lot of messages and see many sites. They redistribute and send out much of what they find and repute interesting, humorous, and of possible interest to others.
(Comment: Passover happens to be a religious feast of our Jewish sisters and brothers, so I wouldn't use the word to describe an individual engaged in passing on information. A suggestion would be "Passers-on" similar to the term passers-by, which actually does exist in English)

2) Filterers
Filterers are Passers-on with a specific interest. They pre-filter and select interesting info bits to be spread to a limited community of like-minded people. Such mini-networks brought to life by one individual do not ususally go beyond 150 people.
(Comment: changed to passers-on and added "brought to life by one individual")

3) Hunters
Hunters go out proactively to search information and new resources by investing systematic time in this effort. Hunters have all the qualities and virtues of Passers-on and Filterers while integrating good search, synthesis and summarization skills.
(Comment: changed to passers-on and added another "er" to Filters)

4) Publishers
Publishers pick out the best that Hunters provide and post, email and publish online on their Web sites key information items, stories and resources that are of value and complement to their own mission or to the purpose of their network of interest.
(Comment: changed "one" to "purpose" to make reading more fluent)

5) Aggregators
Aggregators harmonize complementary resources, tools, ideas, and actual content to create:
a) easier access to specialized knowledge
b) mini-guides, tutorials, dossiers and reports on specific topics
c) specialized knowledgebases and directories

6) Independent Reporters
Reporters make a living off the Publisher role and take on specialized research, investigative and reporting skills. Reporters create their own magazines, newsletters, reports, books, audiotapes and videos. They participate in workshops and conferences and take a very active role in educating and explaining information in their areas of expertise.
(Comment: changed of to off - better grammatically)

7) Communic-action Agents
Communication Agents understand the overall communication process at work on this planet. They have long studied and invested extensive personal time, passion and resources to play, tinker, experiment and discover which tools, methods and tactics provide the most efficient, speediest and widest effects.
Communication Agents understand that they hold digital weapons with which they can peacefully overcome apparently much larger and resisting forces.
(Comment: changed bigger to larger for grammatic reasons. Communic-action Agents seems awkward to read and I notice that in the text you use Communication Agents. I think this latter term is better and more easily understood.

Where do you fit?

At what level are you?

(Comment: for myself, I do some of the things described, but could not limit myself to only one of the categories. It's kind of a gradient. Once you learn one area, the one that attracts you most, then you are free to start in on others. I suppose it's a learning process.)

Do you see gaps? Can you suggest improvements?

"Knowledge defends you against every form of harm in existence.
If you think of the word knowledge what kind of boundaries or limitations can you see it describe? Any?

(Comment: Yes, knowledge limits the otherwise quite normal stupidity and bumbling that is our way of going through life)

If so, what do you think is the value of that word (knowledge)?

(Comment: The word itself is without value. the thing it describes is what we should be striving for because it does, indeed, tend to protect its bearer from harm and what's more - ultimately it has rewards better than the best movie or the sweetest tiramisu...)



 
posted by Robin Good on Thursday, May 15 2003, updated on Tuesday, May 5 2015

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