So Lil Ninja, why blog about social media? What's so special about it, and more importantly, why should I care?
Well, it's not that you should care, you might not and be happy to live your life immersed in the technology without ever really understanding the impact it's had or the implications it’s created. But, on the other hand, your wisdom might tell you that everyone cares about things in which they are directly involved - and like or not, social media is absolutely and positively relevant to you.
The reason that social media is such a big deal is because it brings people together. And when people are together, they talk - they share their experiences, ideas, interests, opinions, and lives with one another. Platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube all facilitate conversations that build a sense of friendship, community, belonging and shared meaning.
When it comes right down to it, social media simply perpetuates the human need for social interaction - and it does this easily, conveniently and in an online environment.
But there's more to social media than just connecting with people. Before social technology, TV networks and newspapers spent millions of dollars each year on the production of news and entertainment - while we spent thousands of hours cooperatively consuming it. Unlike Facebook and Twitter that demand participation and engagement from its users, traditional media merely required us be present in order to receive the information and messages directed our way. We were being talked at, but not spoken to.
Now, however, the conversation is less monologue and more dialogue. With today's digital technology and the internet, anyone can make, publish and share content - words, video, audio, and images - easily and for the most part, affordably.
The best part about all of this user-generated content is that it gives us a much wider selection of sources to turn to. Consider this:
- There are over 200 million blogs online
- Approximately 13 million articles are available on Wikipedia
- On average, Twitter boasts 3 million Tweets per day
- Facebook users spend about 5 billion minutes daily on the social networking site
And while Facebook, Twitter and blogs may not seem like obvious pools of information, each platform is a means for us to build on the comments and perspective of others. The flip side of this, however, is that the distinction between audience and producer, writer and reporter, media and public is no longer crystal clear.
And this is just the beginning. As social media continues to give people like you and me the ability to create and broadcast messages on a global scale, and as our combined voices and efforts are made stronger and more powerful by social technology, then the real question is not should you care, but can you afford not to?
Need a few more reasons to care about social media? Check out these awesome presentations for some astounding facts and stats about this growing phenomenon. Trust me, all three are worth your time.
References:
1. What the F**K is Social Media: http://www.slideshare.net/mzkagan/what-the-fk-social-media
2. What the F**K is Social Media (one year later): http://www.slideshare.net/mzkagan/what-the-fk-is-social-media-one-year-later
3. Social Media Revolution: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIFYPQjYhv8
4. Mayfield, Antony. What is Social Media? iCrossing. http://www.icrossing.co.uk/fileadmin/uploads/eBooks/What_is_Social_Media_iCrossing_ebook.pdf
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