I am a huge proponent of all the new social media. Facebook is something that I've come to love and use every day. I joined Twitter a few months ago and obviously, I have my own blog. It is my goal to be uber-connected and cutting-edge. (I'm fighting the impending "out of touch" label that accompanies a 30th birthday.) My tweets feed to my Facebook and to my blog. My website connects you to my virtual portfolio then back to my blog. I have a wiki that explains what an RSS feed is and how to use it-- and my RSS feed is built within my Gmail account where I get Facebook updates. As soon as I can afford a video camera, I'll be posting my own videos on YouTube instead of just watching them. Not to mention Flickr.
To my surprise, there are many people out there that are resisting this new technology. They refuse to join Facebook, let alone actually post a status update. They make fun of the Twitter tweets and cling on to email like it's really something progressive. I actually had a friend that asked me over lunch: "What's a blog?" I couldn't hide my horror.
To my surprise, there are many people out there that are resisting this new technology. They refuse to join Facebook, let alone actually post a status update. They make fun of the Twitter tweets and cling on to email like it's really something progressive. I actually had a friend that asked me over lunch: "What's a blog?" I couldn't hide my horror.
Let's just review a few of the great things in life that people resisted in such a manner:
- Elvis and the Beatles
- Women's Rights and the abolition of slavery
- Television, computers, cell phones and email
It's inevitable. This new technology is here to stay and much like the good 'ole computer, I think we'll be seeing more of the same. If you refuse to catch on now, you'll be so confused in 2015 that you'll be asking your 7 year-old to explain things to you. (Sound familiar to anyone that has shown their mom or dad how to work the DVD player lately, for the 40th time?) This is not just a passing fad like disco, it's more like the automobile-- it's changing the way we live.
One of the largest sources of information on the web is a wiki-- this means that the users are driving the content. CNN and Fox update the news through a series of blogs. John Mayer announces his relationship status via Twitter and even Michelle Obama updates her Facebook page. Please, if Oprah, in her infinite wisdom has joined Twitter, why are you resisting?
In fact, I would bet my next pay check that although you may have stonewalled Facebook and Twitter, you're already indulging in some of this new technology. I'm sure you've read an online customer review before you made your latest purchase from Target, Amazon or Zappos. Or, you've watched a YouTube video lately and passed it along to a friend. (Why is it that those that are dragging their feet with social media have seemed to really embrace the forward? Oh how I wish that would become extinct.)
So kudos to those of you that are on board. And for those of you that aren't, the time was yesterday. Look at it as liberation from being "fed" information from companies and news channels. Instead, real people, just like you and me, are giving you the news, the product reviews and a real look at Dominoes Pizza. And bonus, you get to keep up with your 100 friends from college that you don't have time to talk to over the phone.
Tiger Lily to those of you make fun of those tweets. The joke's on you. Things are changing and you're getting left behind.
Special thanks to Stone Ward SWIM for inspiring my technology Tiger Lily. If you are interested in getting up-to-date, check out the link.
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ReplyDeleteTechnology is great, being over informed is not. Twitter is like Facebook status posting on crack. Tweet, I'm going to the bathroom. Tweet, I'm done in the bathroom. Seriously?? You're comparing resisting this to resisting the abolition of slavery??? Twitter is like pagers and myspace and ICQ (remember than one??), here today and gone tomorrow. So I guess if you are giving all of us who would rather watch this bandwagon roll on by than eagerly hop on, just to have to hop off in a year or two, then, (proudly accepting award) "I'd just like to start by thanking the academy....." Tweet tweet :)
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't really award you a Tiger Lily for this one "small family." You have your own blog!! I'm talking about those that totally refuse all of it. And, the idea behind Twitter is to give relevant and important updates, not "I just ate a banana" type of tweets. Abstain from Twitter if you like, but keep up the blog!
ReplyDeleteHey Leanne, if it makes you feel any better, the majority of Twitter and Facebook users are in their 30s. See here: http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2009/02/study-twitter-users-are-mobile-urban-and-engaged-online.ars
ReplyDeleteand here:
http://www.istrategylabs.com/2009-facebook-demographics-and-statistics-report-276-growth-in-35-54-year-old-users/
So entering your 30s doesn't automatically make you out of touch. :) (spoken by a 32-year-old who's active on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn)
America is obsessed with celebrity = that's the bottom line. Anyone can be a celebrity with youtube and everyone wants to live like a celebrity. That's why we have these things - not for news or "social networking" - we want people to see and hear us. It's like being on stage - except most everyone isn't doing anything that anyone else wants to know, hear, or see us do. It's just narcissism.
ReplyDeleteThe world would still go on without twitter or facebook. Sure I think newspapers will become extinct - there are easier ways of getting the information. But information from everyone? The media is the most un-objective it's every been and it's only getting worse. Do I really want joe blows don't the street opinions on the CNN wiki? no
John Mayer, Oprah, Michelle Obama, FOX, and CNN. Not the most stellar team of informers out there. I think being connected can serve a purpose - but I don't know if getting "Left Behind" is really what's going to happen to people who don't embrace new technology. Left behind what? The goings on of Miss California? John Mayer's next bimbo date? Oprah? CNN or FOX coverage? Seeing all of those names together makes me cringe. ha
I have and use all of the different mediums you listed: Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, E-blogger, Flickr - Well some of them I don't use very much anymore (myspace/flickr). I even have all those Apps for my phone. But sometimes I just want to throw in the trash too.
They definitely serve a purpose - I just don't know how important that purpose is. We'll see I guess.
P.S. *you can view this response on my blog and facebook* ;)