I have just finished reading David Gauntlett’s thoughtful book ”Making is Connecting”. In a nutshell, the book is a statement saying that people are happier, more engaged, and more likely to develop or learn, when they are doing and making things for themselves, rather than having things done and made for them. This applies offline, but also online.

In contrary to ”social media preachers” like Qualman, Gauntlett describes ”Web 2.0” as a major shift in the way, the volume and the speed in which we create, share and learn. Through several examples, Gauntlett illustrates how the ”social media realm” provides new and highly accessible grounds for creating, sharing and connecting. What drives people to galvanize and making stuff, however, boils down to the very same incentives driving ”analog” craftsmen or activists, i.e. self-esteem, recognition and ’social capital’.

My (new) favorite example of people making things together, online, is ”Star Wars Uncut” (thank you David for putting this on my radar), a fan project to remake 1977’s epic film in a patchwork of 15-second chunks. One can wonder if this project ever will be completed, but while waiting we can always enjoy the trailer.

Towards the end of the book, Gauntlett makes his, in my opinion, most important point through a reference to Jaron Lanier, an American computer scientist, best known for popularizing the term virtual reality. Lanier believes that contemporary sharing-platforms like Facebook is linear and limiting.

By means of an idiot-proof interface, Zuckerberg’s new ”operating system of the web” with over 800,000,000 users (compare to 2,000,000,000 Internet users worldwide) connects virtually anyone. But, it comes with a cap on what people can do, i.e. ‘commenting’, ‘liking’ and ‘sharing’. Zuckerberg’s brainchild clearly marks that simple is beautiful (and functional), but "counter creative". This is where IKEA comes in.

Founded in 1943 by 17-year-old Ingvar Kamprad, IKEA designs and sells ready-to-assemble furniture such as beds, desks and home accessories. The company is the world's largest furniture retailer. Its low prices attract in particular students and others on a shoe-string budget.

Most IKEA stuff come in different colors, but not so often in pink. An instruction explains step-by-step how you assemble your Billy, but not how you can use it for anything but storing books. One could say (yet a bit far-fetched) that my countryman’s creation mainstreams our lives like Facebook, but in this case the inside of our sacred caves.

Personally I am big fan of offline flea markets and online auction sites. Old and recycled stuff makes me feel good and gives me speaking points when having friends over. Here is a Flickr set I created the other day. It (will) showcases stuff I found, but not necessarily bought, here and there. Take a look!

Finally, Gauntlett’s book ”Making is Connecting” helped me to put the World Wide Web, one and two, on a timeline and in a new context. Anyone who call themselves social media specialist should put Qualman in their Billy and give this book a shot. Two thumbs up.