Do you spend any time on ‘Facebook‘? Are you a ‘Twitterer‘? Do you know what I’m talking about when I use the terms ‘Digg‘, ‘MySpace‘ or ‘foursquare‘? All of these are popular online networking sites that allow you to communicate, network and interact with friends and family on the internet. If you have been online for any amount of time over the past couple of years, you likely recognize at least one of these names. Don’t feel bad it you don’t recognize any of these. I am certain there were countless thousands who didn’t know what ‘print’ was in the 1400s when the ‘printing press’ revolutionized the way we communicate. Facebook could be the next printing press.
I know what you are thinking. “Reilly, Facebook isn’t revolutionary and it certainly can’t be compared with the advent of the printing press!” I know you are thinking that because I was thinking that. So I did some homework- namely on the printing press- and found some interesting things in my online exploration. The printing press was invented in Germany in 1454. There were other ‘printing’ machines in practice already at the time- but none as effective and with such widespread and accelerated adoption. Before the printing press, writing was largely done by hand and books had to be written by teams of writers taking months to create even a handful of books- copying laboriously over and over. Well, this meant books took much longer to circulate- and were much more expensive to produce. In turn, that meant only the wealthy enjoyed access to this media and was therefore the only one to be educated by it. The printing press changed that. While it did not replace hand-written books outright, the printing press made possible both a faster and cheaper means to produce books- which meant wider circulation and reduced prices. This put books into the hands of an increasing number of people- increasing the educational value books provide. In short, the printing press put more information into the hands of more people more rapidly and more cheaply. When more people have access to education- all of mankind benefits.
Since the 1400s then, we’ve all been merrily getting our newspapers, Reader’s Digest and National Geographic delivered to our mailboxes. We’ve all been taking in the information we’re provided and thinking on it, learning from it and applying it in various ways in our day to day living. Thanks printing press- I guess we’ve arrived.
But wait a minute. I like the National Geographic as much as the next guy- but what if I have something to say? What if I want to say something different? Well, I guess then I need to get me a printing press. Oh, and the skills to use it. Let’s not forget the paper and chemical inks. Right- and the staff to run it. Perhaps I could lease a cheap building to put everything in. Better get a coffee maker too then. My point, of course, is that while we have all been happy ‘consumers’ of information, there are many of us out here who would aspire also to be ‘producers’ of information but simply do not have the means to do so. That is where the likes of Facebook and Twitter come in.
Facebook, the online social networking tool, falls into an increasing category of services known loosely as ‘social media’ (you won’t find that in Merriam Webster based on my search online). Social media is defined by Wikipedia as “media designed to be disseminated through social interaction, created using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques… that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content“. See that? ‘USER-GENERATED’ content! That’s you and me- the ‘users’ of Facebook. Now you and I can graduate from simple consumers to obnoxious producers simply by choosing to. You have something to say? Start a blog. Open a Twitter account. Get on MySpace. These are only a few of the many new platforms from which you can craft your soap box, get up on it and belt out your mind. Social media now empowers anyone with access to the internet to share with a countless array of millions.
“Get to your point Reilly. Social media is like the printing press how?”
When the printing press was introduced- it revolutionized the way information could be distributed and was a turning point in history impacting the way we consume information. There is little argument the printing press did at least that. So, if a change in the way we CONSUME information could have such a drastic and long-standing impact on mankind- how can we exclude the possibility of a drastic impact caused by a change in the way we PRODUCE information? How can we NOT anticipate that over time social media may very well change the direction mankind takes? When the printing press was first invented there was no way the creators could have anticipated the impact on the world’s future. All I am suggesting is that social media TODAY could be the printing press of YESTERDAY.
Am I alone here? What do you think social media brings to the table today? Do you see it as revolutionary, or just a time-waster?
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Tags: Facebook, Social, Social Media
I feel it’s both. It’s revolutionary in the sense that user-generated content has never been at this level of easiness before – and with things like Twitter, people can find out latest news while they’re sitting on the bus through their phones. It is revolutionary in the sense that it’s changed the face of communication – but with it comes all the rubbish like applications and games that only serve to waste time.