Reading, wRiting, aRithmetic and RSS - The 4 R’s

We don’t always need to reinvent the wheel, sometimes we just need to give it a fresh coat of paint and a new story. The other day while trying to answer the question of what was the most important skills that a Social Media Literate person should have, I saw the traditional 3 R’s in a new light. Rather than thinking of just the simple definition that each word represented (ala the act of writing, being able to read and undersand basic math), I realized the depth of meaning behind each word.

The 3 R’s are inherently necessary for basic media literacy, but I think the addition of RSS as the 4th R is what is really required for Social Media Literacy. By this I mean to say that an understanding of the nature of RSS is important, not the technical nuances. Rather than pontificating endlessly on this, let me briefly explain how I see the 4 R’s and ask you for some feedback to see what sticks.

• Reading - While a modern update to this would also take into account reading, listening, viewing and perhaps even researching, the important skill here is understanding what other people are trying to communicate - the comprehension of what is experienced.
• Writing - Here of course we can move beyond the act of writing and include speaking, shooting video and other forms of self expression, what we are really talking about is the ability to communicate effectively so that others can understand what we are thinking.
• Arithmetic - While you could argue that the math is an interesting aspect of good design (how many pixels wide can it be?), it seems the simplest understanding here is best - from my perspective this just means being able to add up the score on a given issue and understand which choice is better - objective decision making.
• RSS - This is one of the key elements that makes Social Media literacy different. I could describe it in many other ways, but within this context the important aspect for me is that understanding how RSS and by extension tags, work. It enables any individual to step into the conversational flow - to not only follow what other people are communicating, but ensuring what the individual has to communicate is heard by other people who care about the topic.

I like thinking about what is old being new again - I think it makes it easier for a wider variety of people to grasp what we are discussing. Greg Narain suggested that ‘Reach’ might be a better term for the 4th R and while I am inclined to agree with the idea of making it a simple, more common word, I dont think it has the impact it should as a fundamental skill. Maybe we need a different metaphor? So am I off base here or is this an interesting (and simple) way of explaining Social Media Literacy?

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