things that matter for people who matter

I've been reading a few things recently that have really inspired me. Nothing earth-shatteringly new, just things eloquently and insightfully said. I'm writing with a streaming cold and a splitting headache, so excuse me if I gibber. One of these things is Matt's posts on commissioning for attention. Lots of ideas throughout, especially about the relationships between connectivity and content. Go check it out. He also links out to a few sources of inspiration, such as this lovely presentation on the role of objects in social media:

Microblogging: Tiny social objects. On the future of participatory media

View more presentations from Jyri Engeström.

The other is Daniel's thing about social gravity and emotional density. Which is about galvanising people closest to you by doing the decent thing. Also well worth checking out. Or, if you prefer, focusing on friends and family, rather than the people you haven't met or don't know that well yet. I've used this metaphor a few times elsewhere. What's common about all of this stuff is that it's very personal currency that's being used. Lots of people are saying this, because it's common sense really. You can't attract a community of interest around your brand unless you're prepared to enable conversations around you. And if you're to sustain them, you need stuff for people to share. Which might be little bits of content that cement relationships and provide a playground for personal marks and human-to-human interaction. And you may even need to demonstrate your humanity by entering into the conversation yourself.