It’s one thing to blab about the crazy network effects of the web, Chasers. It’s another to actually see them in action.
Last week in this space we linked to EPIC 2014, a vision of the hyper-converged future by Matt Thompson and yours truly.
Well, it caught on.
But you don’t have to take this Chaser’s word for it.
Let’s start with Technorati, the ultimate blog search tool. Search for “EPIC 2014” and here’s what you get: the 60 most recent links across the blogosphere. As of this writing, the freshest is just 40 minutes old!
Here’s what some people are saying:
- “Gotta admit, I like the part where Microsoft fades from view and a new generation of freelance editors takes its place.” link
- “If ‘news’ as we know it ceases to exist, where will all the sources that feed on news get their information? That is, the one thing that the current print media has that no one else has (including most TV news) is REPORTERS–people that actually track down, write about, and investigate events in the world. Who will fund these these reporters? Why should they continue to exist? If the future of our media is all about compiling, editing, targeting, and commenting, where will the initial product actually come from?” link
- “I for one welcome our Epic overlords…” link
The movie also got MetaFiltered; an interesting discussion ensued. EPIC made it onto Slashdot, too.
There’s an interesting thread about it here, authored by a bunch of fans of “alternate reality gaming” — that’s the genre of freak-yo’-mind role-playing games pioneered by savvy marketers to spread buzz about a movie or video game. Yes, that’s right: These fans thought, briefly, that EPIC was the seed of an alternate reality game.
Matt’s basso voice-of-the-future graced a web radio show.
Finally: Yesterday, November 28, the blog index Daypop said EPIC 2014 was the 6th most popular link in the whole blogosphere. For, you know, about twelve seconds.
What do we take away from all this?
First, the ecology of the internet is amazing: One week after posting it, this link has zapped around the world and been seen by thousands of people, some of whom write in Spanish, in Belgian, and in Asian languages this Chaser cannot identify. It’s been fascinating to see it get lost within chains of recommendation: This Chaser saw the phrase “I can’t remember where I got this link” more times than he is, to be honest, quite comfortable with.
Second: For all our techno-triumphalism, the blogosphere still leaves a bit to be desired. EPIC earned thousands of links but only a few really engaged comments. It was sites like MetaFilter that generated discussion; most blogs were content to link and say “looky here.”
So that’s how you follow an idea, Chasers. Have you tracked your news organization’s work through the web recently?
