geek as citizen

Geek As Citizen: The Role Of Republishing

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I’d like to take a break from my analysis of Geeks as Citizens to focus on something I’ve been thinking about in regard to our social role – specific advice as opposed to my more general ruminations.

Actually, Geek As Citizen is going to go permeant here at MuseHack. It’s been quite inspiring, I think it’s useful, and it’s more applicable with actual practical examples. This is going to be one of those.

I’ve been speculating (which is my normal state) on how we geeks create and write a lot of things. Certainly I do because . . . well you’re here at this blog. I’ve been doing this and other writing for years.

Chances are you can or are writing various columns, blog posts, message board responses, and more. Sure, some of them may not seem useful, or relevant,for the ages, or even things you want to admit to writing. But I’m willing to bet some of them are pretty important and not overly humiliating.

So I want to suggest that you make an effort to ensure your great content gets a larger spread and a longer lifespan.  Yep, I suggest republishing.

I suggest this as part of “Geek As Citizen” because I consider part of good citizenry in our communities/countries/world to be maximizing our contributions and ensuring they get the widest reach possible. So, as a citizen geek, with so much that you’ve done over the years, I’d advise making sure more people can get it.

(Besides, you’re probably a lot more prolific than you appreciate)

Consider these possibilities:

  • Repost your work (especially past work that’s fallen into obscurity) on blogs and other sites, as long as you observe proper procedure (timeframes, duplication of content policies, etc).
  • Consolidate your work on your own website for easy of access. If you’ve got some long-running stuff give it it’s own website.
  • Take your work and bundle it up in a convenient document like a PDF or ePub for easy distribution (and learn something about publishing)
  • Take your work further and distribute it for free with Smashwords or something similar.
  • Go all the way and rewrite/edit the work into a full-scale book and/or eBook to get it out there. Maybe consider free eBooks and a physical book that actually costs (even if it’s only the POD price).

Now think of the advantages of doing this:

  • First of all you archive your works. Yes, you should be doing it anyway (which perhaps I’ll address more later), but it is the kind of initiative that helps you preserve them for posterity.
  • Secondly, it makes your works accessible in new formats. You didn’t think of Kindle when you wrote that adventure module a decade ago – now you can put it in that format.
  • Third, it lets you publicize your works as you advertise the new format. Even sending files to friends can result in them saying “hey I know someone who may want this.” Of course if you actually put usable content in new formats you might want to promote it.
  • Fourth, it helps you get in the habit of doing this. Trust me, it’s worth it.
  • Finally, it distributes your works. Which is kind of the point anyway, but still.
  • Oh and “double-finally” it gives other people the same idea.

Thus your work survives and propagates and has a chance to do more good. Pretty nice addition to any set of activities a citizen geek may take up.

It might even make you a little money – my books Epic Resume Go and Quest For Employment involved bundling up various tips, blog posts, and advice into books.  You might even find you have another career ahead of you . . .

– Steven “Republisher” Savage

Geek As Citizen: To Warn

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As this series has gone on, frankly it’s been a bit surprising. I explored areas I didn’t expect, found a few areas (like experimentation) that needed more depth, and think this may be a permanent column on “geek citizenry.” But most of it has been just plain fun, as I think of the issue of geek as citizen.

I love being a geek, being both an enthusiast and a tinker. Of course that’s what I’m inclined to do through whatever forces shaped me. But I have a blast doing it.

However, there’s also less pleasant sides of geekery, that I think come to the fore in using our inclinations to be good citizens. I’m going to cover what I consider one of the core ones.

Namely, we’re the ones who need to raise the red flag when stuff goes wrong.

My basic theory, which I’ve gone on add nauseum, is most geeks fit the “applied” category here at Muse Hack; we have a body of knowledge we’re interested in that in turn we apply and experiment with in a personal way. We thus stand in the middle of both academic and activity, and we in turn often see a lot of information, even if it may be rather narrow due to our inclinations.

Thus, informed and active, passionate about information, connected, we’re also going to be the people to see when there are problems or that problems are on the way. We’re people who stand on the crossroads – in some cases we design the crossroads – so we just see a lot.

We’ve got to shoot our mouths off. Lives may even depend on it.

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Geek As Citizen: To Advocate

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In my ongoing analysis of the role of a “geek as citizen”, I determined geeks were experts at knowing (indeed it’s instinct), driven to apply their knowledge (which is part of our enthusiasm), and thus good at experimenting (as in inclined). Indeed my term “Applied Geek” is a bit like Sahara Desert as all geeks to some case are about “application.”

We know, we use, and in a few cases we go crazy in a (possibly) productive way.

So really my take is that Geeks are a kind of “middleman/middlewoman” in a culture, mixing both academic and hands-on approaches together to get things done and to innovate. I’m not saying geeks are superior, I’m merely noting where they fit into the great scheme of civilization – and being a geek I’m all too aware of my limitations (like the faffing about, occasional obsessiveness, odd perspectives, etc.)

However, as I noted we are kind of “people in the middle” and that provides some further guidance on the social roles we can and indeed should take as geeks. We’ve got information coming in on all sides, we get our hands dirty, we kind of see and do a lot.

Sure we may not be as “face to face” on some things, or as academic, or our hands may not be as dirty as some (which is a terrible metaphor but you get the idea). We may also be limited by our own obsessions to being “in the middle” of a pretty limited area of expertise. But in the middle we are.

That leads to one of our important roles, as advocates and evangelizers for important causes and information. It may be the value of education, or knowing a given programming language, or climate change, or Applied Geek careers like yours truly. But because we’re in the middle of so much, we can in turn advocate for what is important.

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