I have a blog, I network with people using LinkedIn, I share my life with friends via Facebook and I tweet. A year ago I did NONE of these things. So what happened?
First off, I no longer work 12 hour days, so I’m sure the extra time has something to do with it. But there’s more. It’s interesting to me to see how the way in which we get information and share information is changing. I started my blog to share with my family and friends the experience of moving to a new country, travelling around the world and getting an MBA. Now, after integrating Twitter in to my blog (see right), my blog is the centre of my online footprint. I imagine the content and the way in which I use my blog will continue to change as time passes. The fun bit is that I have no idea how it will change, I just know it will.
For me, the most fascinating of these different technologies is Twitter. There is something very fundamental about expressing what’s happening in your life in 140 letters or less. When I joined the ‘Twitterverse’ I had no idea how interesting, useful and fun it would be, nor did I fully appreciate how much I would use it as a source of what’s going on in the world.
The Ashton Kutcher vs. CNN competition to see who could gather 1 million Twitter followers is a testament to the popularity of the service, and provides evidence of the power of the technology. (Here’s a link to the story, and here’s Ashton counting down to his victory) For a celebrity like Ashton Kutcher, or any celebrity for that matter, the ability to immediately connect directly with fans completely empowers them and eliminates the need for fans to rely on other forms of media as a source of information. I wonder what this means for TMZ or US Weekly? Will tabloids exist 5 years from now?
I also follow Lance Armstrong on Twitter, another early adapter of the platform. When Lance broke his collarbone during a race in Spain, I didn’t hear about it first on the news. I didn’t read about it on ESPN.com. I read about it on Twitter. Levi Leipheimer, one of Lance’s teammates, posted updates regarding Lance via his Twitter. I learned that Lance was released from the hospital when Lance himself sent an update and photo on Twitter. By the time the traditional news picked up the story it was old news. This is a great example of how Twitter is changing the way news reaches people.
There probably will be more innovation in media, and I’m sure the way in which the world deals with information will continue to change. That being said, I don’t know if I can handle much more. I can barely keep control of the various platforms I use today, let alone what the future has in store for us.
