The revolution will not be tweeted…but this blog will be...

As Thanksgiving 2010 winds down, with family gone home, the leftovers stowed away and the dishes washed and drying, I’m taking a quiet moment to finally initiate the second revival of Running On. Since I began offering this periodic dose of links and thoughts in April of 2007, I’ve only had one lay-off of any significance, which was between June and November 2008…until now. Now, devoted readers, I find myself posting for the first time since April 2009 – a whopping 18-month break. Well, 2010 will not be blanked, and in fact I aim to surpass my four posts in 2009 during the month and change remaining this year. As for 2011, well, the 19 posts of 2007 will be under very serious threat…

Can that be done? Certainly. I’ve been stockpiling a diverse array of links, which I could weave together in one post by finding (or forcing) common threads and themes. However, by separating them into separate posts…well, it may be a cheap way to hit my mark, but it’ll get the job done. As Wayne Gretzky famously said, “They don’t ask ‘how?’, they ask ‘how many?’”

One other change accompanying the revival of Running On is my foray into the world of – gulp – Twitter (as “jakeofish”). I have been a harsh critic of the strong odor of narcissism and ADHD that I smell from those who “tweet”. However, I have been convinced recently by a fellow fellow in the Environmental Leadership Program that it can be a really effective way to quickly and easily see blog posts, articles, reports, scientific papers and other resources that might otherwise have been missed. Take for example the outstanding collection 2010’s best underwater photos as selected by National Geographic, which I discovered on Twitter. So, my “tweeting” will not deal with the minutia of my brain and life (see my Facebook status updates for that, despite the way they annoy my new hero, Columbus). Rather, I will stick to information of broader interest and relevance.

Of course, it would be a mistake to overstate what this high-minded approach to tweeting (or blogging, for that matter) will accomplish. Malcolm Gladwell recently penned a stimulating article in The New Yorker arguing the severe limitations of any form of social media in really changing the world. His central thesis is that real, meaningful, dedicated action requires both a much deeper connection to the cause than can be generated by the inherently disconnected nature of social media, and that it requires more committed action than the fairly simple action usually invoked by social media. And I think he’s right. Changing the world ultimately requires people getting up and away from their keyboards and out the door day in and day out for long periods of time.

Still, social media can play an invaluable role in building networks and spreading information, as Gladwell also argues. To wit, the rejuvenation of Running On and the spread of its content via – (again) gulp – Twitter…