#rp17 -roaming around re:publica
Roaming around in the halls of re:publica / Media Convention Berlin, I wonder how much lines of text are filled with words of banalities, when only occasionally, interesting insights show up in the steady stream of tweets, posts and messages. Not that I criticize in any kind of way the possibility to freely express our thoughts via the brave new digital media world- this often is a liberating individual experience – however, how much did we already become actors in a transforming reality play?
Observing all of us in the crowd of conference participants as we almost all are part of the constant composition of digital content creations around the hashtags #rp17 & #mcb17 – logically even more so than at any other conference or meeting – it is clear that events extend their reach far out in the digital space as much as the world of journalism has changed already through blogging & fake news.
Today, on the 2nd day of this years media conference edition, I move with the masses, standing and sitting and listening and watching to presentations, panels and discussions, while simultaneously making notes or directly channeling the collected content immediately to the internet. Yes, sometimes we are but channels for information, swallowing and spitting out pieces of intellectual or artistic expressions and occasionally we get lost in this movement…
However, it is enjoyable – most of the time. The amount and variety of the parallel sessions, talks, meet ups and more are mind boggling, while the intensity of digital discussions are impressive. I try to keep my compass of check marked sessions schedule, but the distractions are many – sometimes in the form of a fellow net citizen saying hello beyond our usual facebook exchange and other times disguised as a more exciting conversation at an exhibitors booth.
And everywhere we stumble over visitors, wearing huge glasses, while vanishing in #VirtualReality settings. This is the way into the “HybridCities” of which Dr. Streitz spoke in his presentation: a combination of #SmartCities and #VR realities. A possible bright future, if we do not forget our own human role as master and manager of the machines…
However, these thoughts do not travel too far, because I went already to the next stage, where 3 women from Nepal & the Philippines proudly present their innovationlabs, maker spaces and incubators, proving that the so-called developing world in fact shows the fastest growth into the digital age.