|
Jacob Returns to the Community Dialog
Hi, I'm Jacob Shwirtz. These days most people know me as "the wacky NYer who moved to Israel in December 2003." Most of the content of my blog since then has been about trying to understand why I immigrated to Israel, what my new life here is about, how the culture here is different from America, etc. I seldom post about politics and I seldom write about my professional and professional life. As opposed to those current themes, most people who know me from two years ago know a very different person. Back then I blogged mainly about online communities (which I am using as a very broad term). Back then I ran a small Internet company devoted to online creative expression. It was big experiment and the site is still online (I keep it online for sentimental reasons). It's at GAZM.org. Similar to Metafilter, it differed by focusing on posts that weren't time sensitive and also allowed anyone to upload files and rate everything (users, postings and uploaded files). Well, after spending 6 months getting settled into a new life in Israel I'd like to get back into talking about the fascinating topic of the Internet as a social medium and its potential to bring people (friends and strangers) together. My interest in this area has never waned but now I'd like to be more proactive and not have this blog be just about my immigration to Israel. In the last few months I've taken on a strategic planning role at a major Tel Aviv Internet development company. They have a great list of clients and impressively survived the dot com bust (which was taken very hard in Israel). My role is to be an expert in the field of online communities, interaction technologies, social networks and everything that entails (I'm trying to avoid over-using buzzwords). Pretty cool position. So now I get to spend lots of time reading blogs, researching sites, etc. Basically, in a cool way, I get to "return to my roots" and get paid for my fanatic use of and interest in online networking sites, experiments and ideas. This is where my recommitment to blogging about online community may become too much for readers who have found my blog in the last 6 months and come here for my thoughts on Israel and immigration. Looking back at some of my old postings from 2 years ago brings back fond memories. Some of my favorites (i.e. "here is my 'cred' for those of you interested in these issues but don't know/remember me from 2 years ago") are: -My June 2002 discussion with Cameron Marlow (who created Blogdex) about blogs and their potential evolution into social networking - although we didn't use that term at the time. -I created the "What Blogging Archetype Are You" personality test which, for a long time, made my site the number one Google result for "blogging." -I wrote about meta blogging pretty early in 2002, leading to a ton of links to the posting and my first spike on blogdex and daypop. -I went on a two week sojourn, in July 2002, through Scandinavia and slept on the couches of people I met online - testing first hand how far social networking had come. These days it would no longer be considered a crazy experiment. Think about it. So that's about all I wanted to say - I'm baaaaaack!!!! And I hope to once again be a little cog in the wheel of thought and evolution in this industry. Very soon I hope to break the news of a giant project we've been working on here for months. In my boastful way of thinking I'd like to say it will turn the concept of social networking on its head! By the way, in recommiting to being an active participant in this dialog I've been greatly inspired by the Many-to-Many group blog. And for the readers who have joined me since moving to Israel, don't worry, I will continue to dissect Israeli culture and discuss my low opinion of Israeli women at every possible opportunity. Upcoming topics I'd like to discuss include: -The question of Friendster's (and other services') profiles being profiles or avatars. To what degree do we create "online identities" and to what degree are we "putting our identity online?" -The question of fake information in people's profiles and what a theoretical "honest" system may look like. Would it be unworkable, like a perfect democracy, or would it flourish and allow for features we simply can't implement today? -How do social networks differ between geographical groups? I have witnessed some interesting features in Hebrew-only and Israel-only communities and I wonder how and if they could be applied to more general sites. And for those few (?) people who are Israeli, in this "industry" and interested in discussing these issues: I hope to join you in this dialog as well. Although my Hebrew is fluent you won't be reading any Hebrew posts from me for a while, so I hope you forgive the English. I'd love to get involved with what Israelis are doing on the cutting edge of this industry. Some links I got from my friend Hanan Cohen to pursue in this vein include: The Concept and Notes. Look out for me! |
home | about | pics email | xml
movie writings Pi Brazil Marathon Man A Clockwork Orange Vanilla Sky Minority Report Men in Black II Andromeda Strain Dr. Strangelove Platoon Time Code On the Waterfront Day of the Jackal Farenheit 451 American Graffiti Comedian Deterrence The China Syndrome Three Days o.t. Condor Late Great Planet Earth A.t. President's Men, 2 Black and White Catch 22 Star Trek: Nemesis Adaptation Gangs of New York Y Tu Mama Matrix Reloaded Bruce Almighty Kill Bill 2 Eternal Sunshine War of the Worlds Mission: Impossible III blogsploitation jewish encyclopedia online dictionary israeli bloggers view from here punks of zion joho the blog urban kvetch rambo's blog hanan cohen the ginrod jewlicious nun bet |
![]()
archives 01/06/2002 - 01/13/2002 01/13/2002 - 01/20/2002 01/20/2002 - 01/27/2002 01/27/2002 - 02/03/2002 02/03/2002 - 02/10/2002 02/10/2002 - 02/17/2002 02/17/2002 - 02/24/2002 02/24/2002 - 03/03/2002 03/03/2002 - 03/10/2002 03/10/2002 - 03/17/2002 03/17/2002 - 03/24/2002 03/24/2002 - 03/31/2002 03/31/2002 - 04/07/2002 04/07/2002 - 04/14/2002 04/14/2002 - 04/21/2002 04/21/2002 - 04/28/2002 04/28/2002 - 05/05/2002 05/05/2002 - 05/12/2002 05/19/2002 - 05/26/2002 05/26/2002 - 06/02/2002 06/02/2002 - 06/09/2002 06/09/2002 - 06/16/2002 06/16/2002 - 06/23/2002 06/23/2002 - 06/30/2002 06/30/2002 - 07/07/2002 07/07/2002 - 07/14/2002 07/14/2002 - 07/21/2002 07/21/2002 - 07/28/2002 07/28/2002 - 08/04/2002 08/04/2002 - 08/11/2002 08/11/2002 - 08/18/2002 08/18/2002 - 08/25/2002 08/25/2002 - 09/01/2002 09/01/2002 - 09/08/2002 09/08/2002 - 09/15/2002 09/15/2002 - 09/22/2002 09/22/2002 - 09/29/2002 09/29/2002 - 10/06/2002 10/06/2002 - 10/13/2002 10/13/2002 - 10/20/2002 10/20/2002 - 10/27/2002 10/27/2002 - 11/03/2002 11/03/2002 - 11/10/2002 11/10/2002 - 11/17/2002 11/17/2002 - 11/24/2002 11/24/2002 - 12/01/2002 12/01/2002 - 12/08/2002 12/08/2002 - 12/15/2002 12/15/2002 - 12/22/2002 12/22/2002 - 12/29/2002 12/29/2002 - 01/05/2003 01/12/2003 - 01/19/2003 01/19/2003 - 01/26/2003 01/26/2003 - 02/02/2003 02/02/2003 - 02/09/2003 04/06/2003 - 04/13/2003 04/13/2003 - 04/20/2003 04/20/2003 - 04/27/2003 06/01/2003 - 06/08/2003 06/15/2003 - 06/22/2003 06/22/2003 - 06/29/2003 11/23/2003 - 11/30/2003 12/21/2003 - 12/28/2003 12/28/2003 - 01/04/2004 01/04/2004 - 01/11/2004 01/18/2004 - 01/25/2004 01/25/2004 - 02/01/2004 02/22/2004 - 02/29/2004 03/07/2004 - 03/14/2004 04/11/2004 - 04/18/2004 04/18/2004 - 04/25/2004 04/25/2004 - 05/02/2004 05/02/2004 - 05/09/2004 05/23/2004 - 05/30/2004 05/30/2004 - 06/06/2004 06/06/2004 - 06/13/2004 06/13/2004 - 06/20/2004 06/20/2004 - 06/27/2004 06/27/2004 - 07/04/2004 07/04/2004 - 07/11/2004 07/11/2004 - 07/18/2004 07/18/2004 - 07/25/2004 07/25/2004 - 08/01/2004 08/01/2004 - 08/08/2004 08/08/2004 - 08/15/2004 08/15/2004 - 08/22/2004 08/22/2004 - 08/29/2004 08/29/2004 - 09/05/2004 09/05/2004 - 09/12/2004 09/19/2004 - 09/26/2004 09/26/2004 - 10/03/2004 10/10/2004 - 10/17/2004 10/17/2004 - 10/24/2004 10/24/2004 - 10/31/2004 10/31/2004 - 11/07/2004 11/07/2004 - 11/14/2004 11/14/2004 - 11/21/2004 11/21/2004 - 11/28/2004 11/28/2004 - 12/05/2004 12/12/2004 - 12/19/2004 12/19/2004 - 12/26/2004 12/26/2004 - 01/02/2005 01/02/2005 - 01/09/2005 03/06/2005 - 03/13/2005 05/01/2005 - 05/08/2005 05/08/2005 - 05/15/2005 06/12/2005 - 06/19/2005 06/19/2005 - 06/26/2005 06/26/2005 - 07/03/2005 07/03/2005 - 07/10/2005 07/10/2005 - 07/17/2005 07/17/2005 - 07/24/2005 07/24/2005 - 07/31/2005 07/31/2005 - 08/07/2005 08/07/2005 - 08/14/2005 08/14/2005 - 08/21/2005 08/21/2005 - 08/28/2005 08/28/2005 - 09/04/2005 09/11/2005 - 09/18/2005 09/18/2005 - 09/25/2005 09/25/2005 - 10/02/2005 10/02/2005 - 10/09/2005 10/09/2005 - 10/16/2005 10/23/2005 - 10/30/2005 11/06/2005 - 11/13/2005 12/04/2005 - 12/11/2005 12/18/2005 - 12/25/2005 12/25/2005 - 01/01/2006 01/08/2006 - 01/15/2006 01/15/2006 - 01/22/2006 01/22/2006 - 01/29/2006 01/29/2006 - 02/05/2006 02/05/2006 - 02/12/2006 02/12/2006 - 02/19/2006 02/19/2006 - 02/26/2006 02/26/2006 - 03/05/2006 03/05/2006 - 03/12/2006 03/12/2006 - 03/19/2006 03/19/2006 - 03/26/2006 03/26/2006 - 04/02/2006 04/02/2006 - 04/09/2006 04/23/2006 - 04/30/2006 04/30/2006 - 05/07/2006 05/07/2006 - 05/14/2006 05/14/2006 - 05/21/2006 05/21/2006 - 05/28/2006 06/04/2006 - 06/11/2006 06/11/2006 - 06/18/2006 06/18/2006 - 06/25/2006 06/25/2006 - 07/02/2006 07/16/2006 - 07/23/2006 07/23/2006 - 07/30/2006 08/06/2006 - 08/13/2006 08/13/2006 - 08/20/2006 08/27/2006 - 09/03/2006 09/03/2006 - 09/10/2006 09/24/2006 - 10/01/2006 10/01/2006 - 10/08/2006 10/08/2006 - 10/15/2006 10/15/2006 - 10/22/2006 10/22/2006 - 10/29/2006 11/05/2006 - 11/12/2006 11/12/2006 - 11/19/2006 11/19/2006 - 11/26/2006 11/26/2006 - 12/03/2006 12/03/2006 - 12/10/2006 12/10/2006 - 12/17/2006 12/17/2006 - 12/24/2006 12/24/2006 - 12/31/2006 12/31/2006 - 01/07/2007 01/14/2007 - 01/21/2007 01/21/2007 - 01/28/2007 01/28/2007 - 02/04/2007 02/04/2007 - 02/11/2007 02/11/2007 - 02/18/2007 02/18/2007 - 02/25/2007 02/25/2007 - 03/04/2007 03/04/2007 - 03/11/2007 |