REMIX ’08 keynote proclaims “Connection is king”

In his opening of the keynote presentation, Pesce said that over the past two years, the world has become “hyper-connected” through the Internet.

He claimed that it is through that connection that the Internet has actually had a hand in expanding users’ social lives, rather than producing the anti-social, Comic Book Guy stereotype of the online enthusiast.

“The Web isn’t just about content anymore...connection is king,” he said.

Pesce regarded Twitter as a prime example of this hyper-connectivity, citing the thousands of ‘tweets’ sent out last week from Chinese users to tell the world about the devastating earthquake.

The stories from the Chinese earthquake hit the Web via Twitter, 30 minutes ahead of mainstream media.

“Networks like Twitter have accidentally become a human early warning system,” Pesce said.

“The tweets from China gave a better picture of the experience than international news could provide.”

Pesce urged businesses to utilise this already established system of connectivity in the workplace to expand employee communication and fuel ideas.

“We need new tools because the things we use day today are never used in business,” he said.

“There’s a huge disconnect between the way we do business and the way we live in the outside world.”

Pesce suggested that businesses look at already existing social and information outlets, like Twitter and Wikipedia, and consider how they can apply that kind of connection and sharing to their own organisations.

“We need to put our knowledge to work,” he said.

“Creating a way to connect and share ideas would help to build a reservoir of expertise and create a revolution in any organisation.”

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