BlogHer - Do You Backchannel? - Comments

absolutely agree

mashadutoit — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 15:14:00 -0500

Neither do I. That's why I doodle. Or jot down brief notes. But I dont mean to prescribe what you may or may not do as a member of an audience. As others have mentioned, the context is crucial. But the prospect of a significant number of people engageing actively with technology while I give a talk - that worries me. And I'm not convinced that that is simply because I am behind the times, or authoritarian, or whatever.

That's why I thought LucindaA's comment

Virginia DeBolt — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 15:06:01 -0500

about learning style was so important to the discussion. I am so not an auditory learner.

But. I understand all the points of view on backchanneling and am really glad to hear everyone's ideas.

Virginia DeBolt
BlogHer CE
Web Teacher
First 50 Words

Ok, But

TW — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:37:11 -0500

I think better when typing. Or fidgeting. Or moving in general. I do not process well just listening.

~TW
Retro-Food

I certainly see the point of

Virginia DeBolt — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:18:41 -0500

your well-thought-out remarks. There's a lot to be said for the "be in the now" approach.

Even taking photos of an event (which I tend to do a lot) can remove you from the moment, too.

Virginia DeBolt
BlogHer CE
Web Teacher
First 50 Words

When I covered V to the 10th

Nordette — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:13:39 -0500

When I covered V to the 10th for BlogHer, a once in lifetime experience, I realized that I wasn't actually present because I was rapped up in taking notes, trying to get a picture, etc. Finally I just stopped it and decided to be present and enjoy the moment and whatever I wrote about it, I wrote about it. But it's probably a personal thing depending on people's personalities. I wish I were a videographer, then I could capture and contemplate at the same time. :-)

Nordette Adams is a BlogHer CE & you can find her other stuff through Her 411.

OK I've been thinking a bit more about this.

mashadutoit — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 13:57:13 -0500

My initial response was born out a intense irritation after reading the post linked to - and I am unsure what caused such a level of grumpiness - that usually indicates I'm feeling defensive about something. Initially I thought it was that I might be perceived as out of touch old lady - I'm 37 :) - but actually, I dont think that was it.

I think this was it. The phrase "the sage on the stage".

Now I ask myself - why do people attend a talk by a live speaker. This might be

the speaker is really famous and simply seeing them is enough, doesn't really matter what they say
you want to hear what they say
you want to ask questions.

The last two could presumably be covered by reading a blog post or similar. And the first doesnt quite cover it either. There must be more that people get out of a live talk, particularly, as Elisa pointed out, most speakers (or convention organisers) dont leave time for questions.

Most of the people we go to see, we pretty much already know what they are about or we could easily find out. And reading an article would probably be a much better way to just "get the information" - and you could google and chat to your hearts content.

So I am left with this:

There is something unique about a live speaker - a rapport between speaker and audience that goes beyond the ability to have an actual two way conversation. Put it another way. What is the absolute worst speaker you have ever experienced? I would bet that this person basically just read their talk, or rattled it off without any consideration for the audience.

Now to speak about myself:

When I put a talk together, I structure it very carefully, introducing concepts in a particular order, touching on ideas, building one concept on another. I am super aware of my audience, often throwing it open for people to give me input. And even when I dont do that, I keep "bending" the talk to suit what I perceive to be the audiences response. They are getting bored with this bit...better move on to the next bit...etc.

There is no sage on stage. And while I think a certain amount of activity with technology would be acceptable, it detracts from this relationship. It sucks the power out of the very special nature of a live speaker and a live audience.

To contradict my earlier point - I no longer think its so important whether the audience necessarily remembers stuff. But I think its crucial that they are "present" and participating - there is nothing passive about listening!

The point about learning styles is very apt. But - learning styles are a beginning point, a tendency. Not a limit set in stone.

I feel very passionate about this because it touches on some aspects of the impact of technology on life that interests me very much:

Wanting to record everything instead of experiencing it at the moment it happens. The act of recording gets in the way. Recording for its own sake.
Wanting to capture an experience for everyone to share. While this is obviously laudable - it is problematic if it impacts on the experience itself for those who are there.
Forcing humans to bend around the inadequacies of technology. The devices often interfere with our ability to connect with one another instead of enhancing it.

I love the way technology sets us free and connects us, helps us share, all those good things. But if it becomes a god in its own right (" So I am bothering you with my phone? You are so behind the times, get with it") there is a problem.

Today's classes

Nordette — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 11:39:30 -0500

That was a long-long time ago that I had the study class. Maybe they've updated information to reflect learning styles. But back then that was what they taught. My daughter's hard of hearing so she needed the people who take lots of notes to help her in her classes. I used to be able to do either. Now I can do neither.

Nordette Adams is a BlogHer CE & you can find her other stuff through Her 411.

Speaking as a former educator

Virginia DeBolt — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 09:23:44 -0500

I can say that you really nailed it with your comment.

Virginia DeBolt
BlogHer CE
Web Teacher
First 50 Words

Depends on your learning style I guess

LucindaA — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 21:44:39 -0500

I do copius note-taking because it is how I remember. The process of writing cements it in my brain. Key words doesn't do it for me. But my husband is the opposite. He can't take notes if he wants to remember.

I actually wrote a bunch of tweets in advance

Virginia DeBolt — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 20:20:18 -0500

of the SXSW session announcing the InterAct Curriculum, so that during the actual session I could tweet them at appropriate times. I made sure I covered all the important points, checked my spelling and character counts before hand, and used the right hashtag to get the tweets in front of the right eyes. Even though I wasn't on the panel talking about the curriculum, I still was able to do something I thought was valuable to spread the word about it during the session.

Of course, I couldn't write tweets in advance if I hadn't known what the panel would talk about. But if you hear a speaker say something important or impressive at a conference, why not share it?

Virginia DeBolt
BlogHer CE
Web Teacher
First 50 Words

Perception is everything

Nordette — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 14:10:11 -0500

Oh, btw, Virginia, I said "class," I meant conference. People came from all over the country. It was in San Francisco and quite successful.

To your point earlier about notes, they probably wouldn't have ever said don't take notes. What's odd is that they don't know what you're doing. You could be taking notes on your computer.

But I suspect that with everyone there having a computer and a smart phone, they thought it would be distracting to the speaker to whom it looks as though no one's paying attention. It made me realize I was addicted to using the computer to look up information because whenever a speaker said something intriguing or mentioned a wbsite, I wanted to look it up immediately.

As soon as the speaker was finished, half the people went to the restroom or to get coffee. The other half flipped open their phones or opened their computers. High speed wireless Net connection was provided and power outlets throughout.

Nordette Adams is a BlogHer CE & you can find her other stuff through Her 411.

education and exposure prongs

Nordette — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 13:58:53 -0500

I think this is the same reasoning that drives "hip" pastors to encourage people to tweet their sermons during church services.

Nordette Adams is a BlogHer CE & you can find her other stuff through Her 411.

One of them, yes

Elisa Camahort — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 11:40:26 -0500

We always wanted a balance between:

- the interaction that we all, as bloggers, expect in our conversations.

- serving the "education" and "exposure" prongs of our Mission by giving lots of opportunities for women who blog to officially and publicly share their expertise.

Elisa Camahort Page
BlogHer
elisa@blogher.com

My BlogHer profile truly shows you everything I do online...Check it out!!

To flog a dead something

Laura Scott — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 11:37:57 -0500

Yesterday's NYTimes had a timely article: Driven to Distraction, which notes that an estimated 2,600 people are killed in auto accidents involving a driver working a cell phone, texting, etc.

A disconnect between perception and reality worsens the problem. New studies show that drivers overestimate their own ability to safely multitask, even as they worry about the dangers of others doing it.

Aside form life-or-death stakes, is a conversation different from driving? You kind of know where things are going, but you are interacting with others and there are always surprises.

How many conversations crashed due to similar multitasking? Not to mention the anti-social nature of not really paying full attention to someone you're talking to.

/melodramatic metaphor

Laura Scott, BlogHer Contributing Editor, Tech/Web
design, snap, blog, tweet

Elisa, I know you go everywhere

Virginia DeBolt — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 11:26:18 -0500

and speak, so you know what you are talking about.

Am I right in thinking this is one of the reasons the BlogHer approach is so inclusive and encourages participation from everyone. (Whether it is from the backchannel or people speaking up during Q & A.)

Virginia DeBolt
BlogHer CE
Web Teacher
First 50 Words

Do You Backchannel?

Virginia DeBolt — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 07:18:34 -0500

In apophenia: I want my cyborg life blogger zephoria (aka Danah Boyd) talks about a culture gap she experienced using the backchannel at a recent conference. One of the conference speakers pointed her out as "not paying attention" because she was using the backchannel.

My frustration at the anti-computer attitude goes beyond the generational gap of an academic conference. I've found that this same attitude tends to be present in many workplace environments. Blackberries and laptops are often frowned upon as distraction devices. As a result, few of my colleagues are in the habit of creating backchannels in business meetings. This drives me absolutely bonkers, especially when we're talking about conference calls. I desperately, desperately want my colleagues to be on IM or IRC or some channel of real-time conversation during meetings. While I will fully admit that there are times when the only thing I have to contribute to such dialogue is snark, there are many more times when I really want clarifications, a quick question answered, or the ability to ask someone in the room to put the mic closer to the speaker without interrupting the speaker in the process.

A bit later in the article, zephoria asks,

What will it take for us to see technology as a tool for information enhancement? At the very least, how can we embrace those who learn best when they have an outlet for their questions and thoughts? How I long for being connected to be an acceptable part of engagement.

Do you see the backchannel a distraction, or as an integral part of the experience?

I, for one, will be using the backchannel extensively at the upcoming BlogHer conference. Are the speakers who see me busily thumbing my iPhone going to be offended? I hope not, because what I'll actually be doing is sending out quotes of their brilliant remarks, looking up their blogs, Googling their names, watching what other people at the conference are saying on Twitter by searching on hashtags like #BlogHer09, and paying attention. Adding the backchannel to an event actually makes me hyper-attentive. It demands all my concentration to listen to the speaker while filling in the spaces with my own inquiries about the topic and pondering the thoughts of others via social media interactions.

At Technically Women, in Why Social Software Matters, Rachel Happe wrote,

Social software encourages the formation of networks, not hierarchies. With networks, the more effort an individual puts in, the more the individual is rewarded if s/he is adding value. This subverts hierarchical filtering of information and gives more influence to the contributors adding the most value. In healthy, well-functioning organizations, this will be seen as a great thing because it speeds the flow of information, discovery, and expert identification – and increases the productivity of the organization as a whole.

Rachel was talking about social software in general, but I think those statements apply to the backchannel equally well.

Backchannels are being used in classrooms more and more commonly. Last March, at SXSW, I attended a panel called Blackboards or Backchannels: The Techno-Induced Classroom of Tomorrow. One of the panelists, Diana Kimball, talked about the backchannel in education.

The Internet accelerates serendipity. The more people thinking about the same thing at the same time, serendipity happens. She runs a question tool for the class where she’s TA. It’s the backchannel for the class. She said it gets very lively and that she learns a lot from being in the backchannel. The backchannel chatter shows that people are intentionally engaged.

Intentionally engaged. In other words, paying attention.

At the University of Texas in Dallas, Monica Rankin offers Some general comments on the “Twitter Experiment”.

Overall, I think the twitter experiment was successful primarily because it encouraged students to engage who otherwise would not. Even in smaller classes, only a small number of students actively participate in class discussions. Students knew that their class participation grade would be partially determined by their involvement in these discussions and most of them seemed comfortable with using the technology to engage with the reading materials.

The backchannel in education points out

For the entire conference, the back channel chat, ‘chatzy’ had been used where both staff and students who physically and virtually attended the conference. I discovered that even parents of my students, back in Australia, were in the backchannel.

Olivia Mitchell pointed out 8 benefits of the backchannel to the audience in How to Present While People are Twittering and suggests

The typing means you’re provoking interest

Don't ignore the backchannel if you are up in front of the audience. If you are on a panel, one member of the panel should watch Twitter (or whatever backchannel is used by most) throughout the talk for questions and comments that the panelists should address immediately. If you are speaking solo, especially to a big crowd, you need a friend who is appointed to watch the backchannel and alert you to what's happening or to mention any questions that you should address.

--
Virginia DeBolt
BlogHer Technology Contributing Editor
Web Teacher
First 50 Words