What are you doing?

Social Media 2009

It’s that pivotal time of year when we look back and look forward, and in Social Media it’s an exciting time to be doing so. This inspiring article, Social Media 2009, by Peter Kim, led me to ask the following questions of you:

What are you doing/ thinking about the smelting pot of this software platform we call the internet, Web 2.0 and Social Media?

What do you envision or even hope will happen with digital trends in your line of business and/or social sphere?

What examples of, dare I say it, Web 3.0 have you witnessed? What do you think we are moving towards?

Cutting through the hot air, what do you really think about it? What are you passionate about?

Excited by my recent forays into certain alleys of social media, a few weeks back I wrote a letter to my Dad in the hope that I could cross the generational divide. He is someone who knows nothing about the internet and the work I do there. I was shocked to find it easy! ‘Web 2.0’ is much easier to explain to someone who is barely aware of 1.0 because it is more logical.

I explained the notion of interactivity and interconnectivity of web 2.0. I explained that any entity, organisation or individual, with an existence online, can be part of a community and/or create their own. They can take invaluable feedback from their consumers or interested parties to and from such communities. These communities allow a free flow of ideas, and allow organisations/individuals to create public profiles, as a byproduct rather than as a calculated aim.

I mean to say that people are communicating much more and in many different ways. For the benefit of my Dad I said that Web 2.0 might improve customer service and make companies/individuals more transparent and accountable, as an example. Expressing this to my Dad made me think about what Web 2.0 and social media mean to me.

A light was switched on for me personally as my use of the web as a social medium increased. I had felt for a long time that the fact that the web was filled with so much interesting stuff wasn’t a big deal. I thought ‘So what!’  If I didn’t know how to find it, then how on earth could I get it, and get excited about it? If I couldn’t find any taps (faucets) for all this stuff it would remain inaccessible. That is why Web 2.0 is blossoming. Social media – the human element – is bringing all the content on the web alive.

I read ‘feedback’ and constantly see ‘what’ people ‘are doing’. We exchange these things and it all ties in so well together, and in many different ways, it complements us as individuals, and as a whole.
There is not as much footwork involved as there once was, what with the great aggregators and communication tools of every flavour now available. With the onset of the ‘semantic web’ things can only get better. Linked data will give increasingly rich ways to search and find associated content.

Doors are open and being opened. There are communities that are available to each and every one of us. Many that were formerly marginalised are now accessible to all of us. By getting online and joining one social network or another, or by giving feedback after a shopping experience or similar, we can choose how we interact. Speak out, if you so wish, and find your platform to start the conversation. Remember, however, that essential to conversation is the art of listening. Normal social rules apply!

There’s a lot more to social networking than I have mentioned above, so take a look at what some of the pro’s are saying. I was interested to read this Peter Kim article above when Tweeter, @chrisbrogan blogged about his contribution to it.