OK…well we all had some sort of idea of what the term meant going into this course. That “idea” seems to be mainly a mix of social networking and blogs. And fairly enough. After all, these two components make up most of the personal, expressive, interactive experiences between the average individual and this fast-budding, new creature of communication we call social media. I mean, for crying out loud… the MySpace/Facebook/Twitter phenomenon has defined OUR generation (generation Y). These sites have revolutionized communication, and life itself, all while WE are young, college minds ready to make our mark on contemporary society. But in reality…social networking and weblogs only really scratch the surface of how to define social media, as we are beginning to understand.

Honestly, trying to define the meaning of social media is a headache. It’s like trying to catch a rabbit in a cornfield. One minute it’s finding a long-lost friend on Facebook, the next it’s writing a blog on “Mountain Biking For Geeks” because you like to mountain bike alot. Then, suddenly out of nowhere, its user-generated content on TMZ breaking the news of Michael Jacksons death, and protesters mobilizing through Tweets during the heavily media-censored Irani Elections. (see 2009 Iranian Elections Protest). And then, today in our lecture, we learn about Drupal..a new form of social collaboration in the world of content management systems.

Despite the growing maze of new applications and fancy terms (content management system…uh, you mean website?), social media appears to have two simple constants: instant communication and user collaboration.

We now can communicate and exchange information, ideas, experiences, and opinions in a whole new way that will have effects we can’t even imagine yet. It’s had a business effect already. In fact, it turns out what we care about, what we talk about, how we feel about things, what we search for on Google…is worth alot of money to some people!  ”People” like private corporations and the news media. Companies suddenly realize they can learn ways to improve products and services, and be inspired to create new ones, by giving their consumer’s a voice…and listening to it! Add guess what else? It turns out that giving consumers this digital soapbox also makes them feel more connected to your brand and love it EVEN MORE! The ultimate corporate win-win.

And lets not even get started on how its changing the news media industry. Our topic interests as a public, after all, are what make news newsworthy. It used to be a meeting of a few self proclaimed news-savy heads around a table trying to predict what stories people would care about the most. But now…why try to predict what people will care about when you can see it happening instantly! If a bunch of people start searching, tweeting, and Facebook status-ing the same thing, you can bet it’s something your news organization is going to have to consider covering…oh, and don’t wait too long or else someone will cover it faster than you. And survival in the news industry is all about getting it fast. Also, user generated content is changing everything. More and more of us have the near instant ability to record video and audio within arms reach on our smart-phones. Give millions of people the ability to capture visual media in the midst of their day to day lives, and suddenly, WE are the foot soldiers of new media. “Hey, anybody see that plane crash on the Hudson?”, because NBC, CNN, ABC, CBS, and FOX…well, they missed it. Must of been in a board-meeting.

I’ll conclude with what I think is the most exciting part of all this…collaboration. It’s not about what I know. It’s not about what YOU know, or even what WE know. It’s about what MILLIONS of us know, together. Our ideas may be simple at first, but it’s where they can go that is so exciting. When we blog about something, we communicate our ideas with people who can communicate new ideas back. Eventually, we have totally new and better ideas. Suddenly, I am not only as smart as myself, with my own knowledge and life experiences to draw from, but I have the knowledge and unique insight of everyone who exchanges information and ideas with me. Potentially the whole world could combine knowledge and develop ideas that no one person could have ever reached on their own. Medical breakthroughs, technological advances…the possibilities are endless.  This is how I believe social media will change the course of human history. Globalization and the exchange of ideas promoting progress within human civilization is part of what the internet has been all about since day one.  But now, we are ALL able to partake in the exchanging; it’s me and you. Now it’s anyones ideas, communicated instantly. Now…it’s social media.

Advertisement