If you aren’t exploring Medium yet, you should. This blog publishing platform is turning into my go-to place for browsing and expanding my horizons. The recommendations by Medium itself seem rather random (no, guys, I really am not interested in “Bedbugs: the untold horror story”), but you can search keywords and follow folks who’s taste you trust. For example, I’m following Mar Dixon (of #AskACurator day fame), Jacob Harold (CEO of the nonprofit watchdog group GuideStar USA), Rob Walker (journalist, author, co-instigator of the awesome “Significant Objects” project) and Ed Rodely (associate director of integrated media at the Peabody Essex Museum).
To get you started, here are a couple articles recently recommended by other folks I follow:
Lucy Bernholz (author of the excellent P2173 philanthropy blog) pointed me towards “The 36 People Who Run Wikipedia,” about the world’s largest self-organized, all-volunteer endeavor. Some wiki of these uber-editors spend over 20 hours a week on Wikimedia-related tasks, rewarded only with badges. This illustrates the amazing potential for passion to drive significant levels of volunteer engagement. It’s also an interesting peek behind the scenes at non-traditional ways of structuring authority and participation.
Seb Chan recommended The Sixth Stage of Grief Is Retro-computing. I’m not sure what resonated for Seb–I’m sure he, at least, recognized the archaeological fragments of software the author mines for meaning. For me it was a chance to hear a familiar story in a new voice: of the importance of finding a network of kindred souls who take your passions seriously, even when you are just a kid; on the episodic nature of adult friendships, in a world where you may intersect with people you love only once every few years.
And if nothing else, follow Code|Words:technology and theory in the museum on Medium. I’m going to keep hounding you to read this excellent, ongoing series of essays instigated by Suse Cairns, Ed Rodley, Seb Chan and many other of the most insightful thinkers (and eloquent writers) in our field.
So go. Read. Write. Recommend.
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