I am a a genius… or at least I want to think that for a little while today. I have coined a new job description and I think it’s brilliant. It catches something new and unique, identifies a professional niche of great importance, and is, at the moment, entirely my creation! Hooo Haaaa!
Before I reveal this burst of inspiration I want to mention one aspect of my reach. My genius is that I can discover great things, more or less on my own, figuring them out from scratch. Good stuff, big thrill. However, unfortunately the blazing light of this genius is somewhat dimmed, perhaps “overshadowed”? better mixes the metaphor, by the fact that the things I discover have usually (ok, maybe always) been discovered by others years earlier. So it goes! I still get a thrill out of thinking I discovered them. It may be that my forgettery is of great value here as I probably read about these things, forgot them, and then, glory halleluiah, discovered them on my own. So here is the latest addition to the list:
Digital Community Engineer
Digital Community Designer
Hey! How about that! I’ve never heard of these job titles. They define a unique niche in the field. At this time about 90% of the relevant work falls under the “Web Development”? area. My job title is “Instructional Technologist”?, and my work is also part of “Digital Community Engineering”?.
The idea is that these newly named professions design, create and support on-line communities. The social networking sites and their cousins (FaceBook, YouTube, E-harmony, etc. ) use these professions.
How about that! Now… for the dénouement, I have not yet Googled these terms. I am going to do so now and report the result here. I fully expect to get 5000 hits on each term in quotes. Here’s what I get:
“Digital Community Engineer”? – WOW! No hits! “Digital Community Designer”? 1 HIT Tim Putnam – Digital Community Designer. Tim is a design and marketing widget of sorts. His background in Music Business helps focus our websites to be highly effective tools for our Entertainment clients. He keeps our member communities growing by implementing and monitoring electronic marketing campaigns. He also contributes his graphic design talent to the design of websites and merchandiseHowever, Google suggested that I might want to try “Digital Community Design”? and that gave 12 hits.
Still, I think I’m fairly early in the game to come up with these terms. I may also check using “on-line”? and “software”? in place of digital, but I think “digital”? is the high ground here.
An acquaintance of mine, Marc Prensky, has a certain degree of fame in web/Instructional technology world for coining the phrase “Digital Natives”?. We older people, he says, are “digital immigrants”? (though the country moved in around us rather than us moving into it) and the younger people are “digital natives”?, who grew up in this new world.
So where is my fame for coining “Digital Community Engineer”?. Last week I had not even thought of the term, and now, praise be, I are one!. And, I think, so are most of the people to whom I’m sending this as e-mail.
Harry (AKA genius wannabe) Baya
December 2nd, 2006