Re-Vision Labs Has Moved – Plus, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter!
By Gabriel Scheer,
Founding Partner at Re-Vision Labs
As regular followers of the Re-Vision Labs team know, we recently moved into new offices, next to Mithun on Pier 56. It’s gorgeous space, and we’re loving it (come visit!). We’ve gained tremendous productivity. The fellows and partners all have space together (in our last space, the wonderful Office Nomads, we were unfortunately too large a group for the space, resulting in our being spread all over the office), and we’re getting client work and internal projects done far more quickly and effectively. Awesome stuff.
The downside is that, as you may have noticed, I’ve been too busy with the move, new clients, and general life, to get much up on the blog. However, I’ve been saving some choice news pieces about Twitter for you readers. Without further ado:
1) One of the things we go on about at Re-Vision Labs is that Twitter and other social networking tools are just that: tools. Absent a coherent strategy, they simply play as any other media, willy-nilly, without any logical direction. However, that doesn’t stop them from being powerful tools, as an amazingly obtuse Chicago company recently learned. The company in question, Horizon Realty Group, had an angry tenant who tweeted a (relatively benign) comment to her 20 – yes, 2-0 – followers. Horizon saw the comment and sued for defamation – for $50,000! HRG has since backed down on some of their rhetoric (they added fuel to the smoldering ember of a connected world itchin’ for a villain). But the fact remains: they had no strategy for responding to social media, and instead, went reactionary. I’m sure they now wish they had had some degree of measured foresight. What’s your company’s strategy? Social media is happening, and will continue to happen. Are you engaged?
2) Been thinking a lot about how community organizing, with a heavy social media overlay, can transform government. Imagine if your comments, thoughts, and concerns could, rather than festering or being passed on as rumor or complaint, be voiced to a responsive government agency? Rather than believing government is wasting public money, what if people could easily dig into how the government is spending tax dollars, using the powerful new tools of our time to gain real-time access to information on how, where, and why tax dollars are being spent. I’m betting it’d increase confidence in the government, weed out the occasional weak spots, and in general, improve our political system. Here’s a great blog article from, oddly, the World Bank, on how Twitter can contribute to more transparent, participatory, and accountable government. Re-Vision Labs is exploring how our thinking can help transform government organizations; we look forward to moving the dial!
3) Did you know John Quincy Adams was a Twitter user? Well, neither did he – but his journal entries are, it turns out, perfectly-sized for Twitter. A Boston high schooler recently discovered this oddity, and now the Massachusetts Historical Society will be posting Adams’ sub-140 character journal entries (or, in contemporary parlance, micro-blogs) via Twitter. He wrote ‘em in 1809; in 2009, you can follow along on Twitter @JQAdams_MHS.
Similar Posts:
- White House 2.0: What Do You Think?
- Authentic Community Engagement: Key to the Future
- Weekly Hot Hits in Global Development 10/5-10/9!
