|
 In a recent blog post, Chris Brogan (co-author of the New York Times bestselling book Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust) called Twitter "the serendipity engine for the web." I love that turn of phrase, because it's so true!
I follow several hundred people who tweet on innovation and creativity-related topics, and I can't even begin to tell you how many times I have learned about awesome reports, articles and other online resources - all because someone tweeted about them.
Chris also comments that "maybe there’s a lot more wealth in these hidden kingdoms than what you’re thinking about right away." I interpret that to mean that as we read others' tweets, we need to be mindful of how we could use the information directly in our business or life - or adapt some aspect of it to our current and future needs.
I tend to view my knowledge and ideas as a big mosaic, composed of billions of bits and pieces of information. As I read articles, blog posts, tweets and other online content, I'm always subconsciously trying to figure out how a new piece of information fits into the overall "picture" of my understanding of that topic or issue. Often, there are some aspects of what I'm reading that fill in piece of my understanding or that expose me to some nuance that I wasn't aware of before.
Twitter enables this process by exposing us to a lot of cool and amazing ideas.
I'm a big believer in the power of serendipity in the creative process. So I think Chris' observation is right on target!
P.S. If you're not already doing so, you can follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/chuckfrey. |
