Catching up with email unread since last Wednesday (having been away), I start with one from Eric Eggertson which helps me get up to speed with the extraordinary tale of the nobodies.
And what a tale! Starting from a rude personal assault on Allan Jenkins in an article by David Murray, it has quickly led to the birth of a new organization, a blog, a podcast and even an online store.
This is the same David Murray, incidentally, who rapped me over the knuckles in December 2004 with similar rudery in an article for the Ragan Report newsletter. Fifteen months and so many developments later, Murray is still clueless about social media. At least his rudeness is as consistent as is his decline in credibility.
Murray undoubtedly has no idea of what he has now wrought!
The result is I’m nobody… who are you?, the official blog of the “International Association of Nobodies.” And if this body counts nobodies such as Allan Jenkins, Eric Eggertson, Andrea Werckerle, Ike Pigott, Linda Zimmer, Gary Goldhammer, Lee Hopkins, Shel Holtz, Henriette Weber Andersen, and Jeffrey Treem among its membership, then that’s a group I’d be proud to be associated with.
Onwards, nobodies!
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Welcome to the club, Neville. (Of course, you don’t actually need anyone else’s validation to be a Nobody.)
Time will tell, but I’m hoping this will be a bit of a catalyst for some great discussion and sharing about all the things that get overlooked by the movers and shakers in society, or that get positioned as issues exclusively for executive types.
If it’s a flash in the pan, we’ll all get on to other things in a few weeks. If it has more staying power, this could be a great chance for folks to cut through some of the isolation felt by bloggers who aren’t offical Somebodies.
Neville, I would be proud if you would call yourself a nobody like the rest of us..
rock on !
Thanks, guys. Watching developments…
Welcome, to the club, Neville!
I for one hope this is of the “staying power” variety as Eric noted. The International Association of Nobodies is, in fact, the very essence of social networking. In less than 24 hours an entire network of people who, for the most part, only know each other by way of their (non-)reputations have come together and collaborated, being freely joined by others along the way, producing Something through shared interest and each individual’s creativity, knowledge, talent, enthusiasm and humor.
I’d say the Nobodies sum it up pretty neatly.
Thanks, Linda. Very well put re social networking. I do agree – ‘nobodies’ sums up the essence of that very neatly indeed.
These are exciting times. Can you believe we’ve done all this in just a few days?
Truly viral, Andrea. And it wasn’t started by Allan, but by a bunch of friends. Linda is so spot-on re the essence of social networking.
Neville – IAN is now old news. What the blogging world wants to know is, as a fellow offliner editorer, will you be joining B.O.L.L.O.C.K.S.?
As in ‘a load of’? Heh! Nice one, Dave. Now let’s see what Lee’s up to… Hoo-wee, is he angry!
Indeed. He seems to be having terrible luck. I have to admit that my dalliances with the various editors haven’t produced any issues like those yet – more just UI annoyances and stuff like that.
Robert Fuller envisioned a Nobodies Movement in his 2003 book Somebodies and Nobodies, and he’s been working for years to bring this dream to fruition. He’s delighted to see that social networking technology has finally allowed people to make their stand as Nobodies.
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