The Machine is Us/ing Us

I recently came across this interesting illustration of web 2.0, from Professor Michael Wesch from the Kansas State Cultural Anthropology Department.

(full size version from YouTube is here)



Its one of the most powerful (and dizzying) explanations of the current state of the web. If you've been around the web for a while, its easy to stay stuck in the past, and think of static web sites that are controlled by others. This video shows that the power and content of both reading and publishing lie with all of its participants.

Two things come to mind when I think of church outreach

1) the possibilities of sheer numbers for outreached (his video has reached over 1.7 million viewers)
2) the opportunities to boost ministries through information sharing and collaboration.

I'm trying in my own way to help the cause at our church, through this blog, use of del.icio.us, flickr, and ways of consolidating feeds into manageable content. I'm finding that the more I read, the more I find, and the more I need to read.