IoB and Birch explained by a simple example

When I have explained the value of the Internet of Behaviors (IoB) and the idea of a search engine, which searches ongoing or planned and intended behaviors in the net (I call it Birch), I have received somewhat strange looks and comments. The current search & thumb paradigm has conquered our minds. 

So, here is one simple example case to demonstrate how IoB and Birch together could change the world of offerings and campaigns and get rid of the misplaced offerings, junk and push nuisances. At least some of it. Scaling of this can be simply huge.

A case example. I received an email offer for proofreading my English book manuscripts. Nice idea, but the timing was 100% wrong. A year ago, I did need and use such a service, but not now. Why such a waste of campaigning? The email landed straight into my junk file, automatically, even the mail system algorithm guessed it was only a nuisance. Why is it that most offers which are relevant, professional and fine, end up being junk? Of course, statistics and money tell us that sometimes the blind offers find their buying flocks.

I’m amazed how service providers, technology designers, and people in general tolerate this pathology of the net.

A transformation

When using any app, like a text processor, Scrivener, for example, which I recently started using, it could have a simple button, menu or whatever indicator, “Edit On” by which I could easily indicate what I’m doing – editing my book, for example, or whatever. If I so wish, this information of my behavior would then be available on a suitable media platform and I could be informed about relevant, broadcasted offerings that are only (!) about editing English text – in this case.

I could know where to look for them but the sender would not know my identity or anything personal about me, only my ongoing behavior and the implied need, if I have not expressed more about it. Someone else, somewhere on the globe, for example, who would be doing the same thing (writing in English, editing the text) could see similar offers, or more specific ones.

For the fun of it, I inserted “the button” (it’s only an icon, does not work) in my next generation Scrivener for,  below. We can easily imagine more and not only for this ‘behavior’.

This is not only about buttons and indicators, it is about the architecture of the networks of our life and how they could be best served (in future). There is a need for extensive network and local technologies here and in other sectors of human behavior, but I will not go into it. The network providers have their chance to extend their services to this scope of our everyday life, entertainment, work, education, and sports, for example. Quite a lot could be done already now by extending the existing services.

The example case shows the nature of only one simple active network of real life, editing in this case, and everything related to it. But we all have dozens if not hundreds of such personal, dynamically activated behavior networks where the indication (IoB based) of the ongoing behavior and Birch search could help us receive relevant and timely information, offerings and services – without revealing our identities. The service providers would know that they can have a 100% relevance and timing for their offerings. Interesting? You would think so, but we’ll see.

A note added:

I added this in case you thought that the Birch service would anyhow need individual targeting and become one more ‘standard nuisance’. However, the service providers and campaigners do not need to know who will approach them, but they must have a forum where willing people can do that. For people it simply means ‘shopping’ the way it used to be in the old days, but it would be a journey in the net, knowing where something of interest and relevant is offered – without revealing the identity before purchasing or the engagement. The difference against the present practices is the 100% relevance. How to build such a service and interaction architecture, that is a real fun question but it would pay back, in huge amounts, I believe.