In the Wild - Matt Locke

Matt Locke - Commissioning Editor, New Media Channel 4

Matt Locke,
originally uploaded by DavidDMuir.

It's not about the technology – it's about the warm bodies. Trouble is finding the language that is meaningful both to the creative TV people and the technology people. Is it about a utopian dream or a distopian future? The same kind of discussions took place when the telegraph started.

Don't think about the technology but ask what structures people are creating in their head. What spaces are they inhabiting while they use the technology? Some spaces are:

Private spaces – like using mobile phones.

Group spaces – Bebo, Facebook etc. Often these are more public than people think but they are used to create a social group.

Publishing spaces – Blogs, Flickr etc. Can be same tools as above but tend to be used in a different way. Teenagers can use these tools to explore their identity. Rehearse what their voices sound like to an anonymous audience.

Performing spaces – Second Life, world of Warcraft, … People perform to show off their skills for example videoing themselves playing games.

Paricipating spaces – Marches, meetings etc. For example Threadless - a t-shirt design community. People organising themselves online. {Like the TeachMeet wiki? - DM}

Watching spaces – Television, gigs etc. people sharing their experiences for others {Like the sharing of SLF – technology means that the ripples are felt much further afield that the event itself. - DM}

Alternate reality game (ARG) – Jane McGonigal from the Institute for the Future created World Without Oil where the participants had to write about how their life was in an alternate reality where the world was without oil. Often an ARG has the idea of creating a mission – a quest for people to complete in the real world e.g. get a group of people to a gathering/party by public transport. It's that kind of blended activity Channel 4 wants to create.

These are the guiding principles (according to Matt) – make them playful (not necessarily fun!). How can the learning come from the play? Allow people to be exuberant, to show-off, to cheat (like cheat sheets in a game). Not about creating a resource library. Do one thing well. Give things away {cf. my excitement of getting a free Second Life t-shirt! - DM}. Messy is good! Make your audience your hero – opposite in network world to X-Factor style TV where slowly large numbers are whittled down to just one winner. Immerse yourself – find the things that make sense to you and be passionate!

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