Summer 2013

You know I often wonder just how many people actually read Seth Godin. I see lots of tweets in the stream every time a post is published but you can't help but wonder if all these aficionados actual bother to read his stuff before they hit the tweet button. Just how many of the thousand odd Tweets are bots and auto responders and how many are real people who actually think. Hey that's cool. That makes me think. Now I see the world differently.

I say that because much of what Seth has to say is good old fashion marketing 101. You know well worn homilies like sell to somebody who is listening and give them something to talk about (i.e. FLUFF - Feed the Love to Ur Fans First).

You could call it the Apple social play book. Focus on what you are good at and let your fans do the talking.

Of course Google disrupted that mindset with a new model. Cut the jive talking because it's a lot easier to sell to somebody who's looking by giving them something worth finding, at a price worth buying. Or good old fashion ASLTW - actions speak louder than words.

The message I have tried to present here is a very simple one. Our technology, these machines shape our modern narrative. For example tweet bots provide the illusion of influence - or perhaps a higher meaning - when perhaps there is no influence or maybe not as much influence as one would expect, given the level of activity.

And to the question should anyone take up blogging? The answer is of course yes. Google and the bots will find you and celebrate your efforts no matter how well or badly you write. After all the simple act of typing is a celebration of the machine culture. You are at one with the the network. Type for long enough and all manner of new and wonderful meanings will be revealed.

Sit at your keyboard for long enough and you will be able to observe first hand the movement, the plumage and the songs of the flock as it flies right past you in search of food for thought. That ounce of insight seemingly so lacking in everyone's diet today.

I think if Seth's work teaches us anything it is that popularity is about flying with the bots. Because I know when I am busy the bots are busy and if the bots are busy then chances are there may be a few real people tagging along for the ride... just to keep an eye on what the bots have been up to.

Besides if the bots are nearby then you know you are operating with in touching distance of the middle, rather labouring in irrelevance on the edges, of this machine augmented reality.

So does it really matter if I find myself tweeting on twitter to a fan club of Sethbots? No not really. You see I have discovered a new found appreciation for the blessing of the bot.

For the bot goes boldly where no man has gone before. The bot flies to the edge of the galaxy, survives in tormented skies of Venus and roams freely on Mars when people cannot. The bot rides freely on backs of whales and tigers when people cannot. They fly on the wing tips of drones. Park cars into tight spaces. Trade billions upon billions on the world's stock markets within the blink on eye. But most of all it tweets when no one else is there. And that's kind of satisfying. It means a lot in a connected machine sort of way. It means I am operating at the edge of the avant garde. I have something special. I have a machine connection.

For it is true the bot manufactures meaning out of the digital dust. The bot connects you with the things you are looking for when you cannot. The bot knows who you are even when you do not. The bot is busy at work when you are not. The bot sits in your pocket awaiting your call... And yes people, the bot means business. Specifically it wants your business. Not just today... but everyday.

So get busy. Hop to it. Go get in touch with your inner bot. Get expressive with your outer bot. Shout it out aloud from the roof tops: Bots are beautiful! Because from here on things are going to get deep and machiningful.

If you know what I mean ;-)

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