When architecture first became a recognized business and IT skill set I was asked to describe what that meant to IT in particular. I remember referring back to my earlier training in traditional architecture by saying that it was building structures in which the relationship of the parts and their properties supported the purpose of the whole.
As the IT architectural discipline matured through maps, roadmaps and frameworks the correspondences with traditional architecture increased. It wasn't just about the structure and the space it occupied it was also about the structures surrounding it and the conditions beyond them - in other words an ever expanding set of relationships that had to be taken into consideration. Of course the factors on the outer rings of influence took lower priority but it was still relatively important for them to be acknowledged.
This new breed of architects is naturally disposed to openness in order to access and share as much information as possible about their structures and environments, an environment that increasingly extends beyond the datacenter and the enterprise. Obviously the more they know the more they can determine and predict the relationships and ultimately the more successful they and their employers will become. Sharing leads to collaboration and I have long felt that wikis provide the ideal medium for architectural artifacts and documentation. I was greatly impressed by the wiki put together by the Open Methodology Group which exemplifies the benefits of sharing and collaborative organization.
In looking forwards I see that need for openness, sharing and particularly the understanding of a plethora of relationships as unremitting. And this is where social media lends a large and welcome hand. Facebook and Linked-In are obvious tools for mapping, understanding and strengthening networks, groups and personal relationships, though I regard Zuckerberg's creation as more social then professional as opposed to Linked-In which is the reverse. Linked-In however is more formal and despite all the wonderful attributes and links you can provide it is still a site that hosts super-resumes.
And that brings me finally to Twitter, which is perhaps the least understood of the social media tools. For some it is all about "me" and "what's happening" now. Politicians, entertainers and celebrities hire teams to flood the channels with thoughts and quite often nothing more than white noise. Ricky Gervais, the comedian, put it quite baldly "Of course there are idiots on Twitter. But there are idiots on the high street and I still go there. People say awful idiotic things all the time, but I don't give up language because of it."
BUT to architects Twitter is a treasure trove of relationships, especially the relationship of ideas and thinkers. I could use Google and other search and analytical tools to find the same information and I would be remiss not to do so as part of deeper research and analysis, but what makes Twitter so useful is its immediacy - it truly is in the present and if you can ignore the noise, the ideas and thoughts are fresh. There are pitfalls and decoys, parodies and deadwood, but if you put the effort into building your Twitterverse the results can be exciting and even inspirational.
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