I’m lucky enough to live on a river in northern Johannesburg and have done so for 25 years now. The river has her moods – mainly she burbles along most of the year at knee depth, continuously exposing the granite and tangled roots underneath, but sometimes in summer rainfall season she roars close to the boundaries of its banks. From time to time the river is even a convenient drainage system courtesy of the City of Johannesburg water and sanitation department but the resident birds, frogs and other assorted furry animal communities seem to take it in their stride.
The Oorie – as this river was once called – is part of the Sandspruit river system. It flows from where we are through Alexandra, Midrand, Fourways, Dainfern and then down to the Hartebeespoort Dam and from there East into the Indian Ocean around which is 450 Km away. The people who use the water downstream (for fishing, washing, transport, water crops etc.) have no idea of what really is happening upstream. Which is probably just as well.
We know in change management that the way you ‘frame’ something has much to do with your experience of it. The internet itself has been referred to as an ‘information superhighway’ a ‘grid’ the ‘net’ and the ‘world wide web’ – each provides a very different understanding and experience of what it is. However, the problem with metaphors is that they become tired and worn out with overuse and then tend to lost their meaning..
Looking at the internet using the metaphor of a complex waterway system provides useful insights. So ponder the following…
- The stream is in front of you, burbling and moving continuously. Sometimes you might like what you see in it, sometimes not. And if you move to another part of the stream, you will see something altogether different – it depends on your point of view and what you are searching for.
- What you see has a lot to do with the activity of other beings upstream…and when it has passed you by, it is no longer your problem.
- What you see has a lot to do with what you are looking for – and the internet is able to provide you with plenty of proof for whatever you ‘think is going on’
- By the time it enters the ocean, the little river has become an enormous river that has flowed through myriad beings and actions – unconscious or not – that have contributed to it. And the oceans absorb countless amounts of this continuously.
Knowlege is much like water – flowing, moving, difficult to contain and extremely slippery. And here comes the metaphor; The Stream is very much like Twitter and other sites that host microblogging…it is literally a vast community of people who are chatting about what they think, feel and see before them right now – much like how you would describe water running in a stream. And as in any group of people, you will find sinners, saints, sages, giants, gnomes, trolls and suchlike who are sharing their worldview with you. Some of it sticks, for a while, then it flows on.
Views: 76