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August 13, 2007
A summer of Social Media Revelations. Discovery and Opportunity:
What I find especially interesting about this moment in time is that we are getting a glimpse of the future of how some of us may be dealing with our social relationships on the Internet in the future.
Facebook may not be the new AOL, but it has transformed itself because of its open API, and it has moved itself up the social media food chain. Corporations both big and small are asking themselves, “What is our Facebook strategy?” Like it or not, Facebook is now uniquely positioned to be a platform in the evolving social media ecosystem.
This is about is how we form, nurture and maintain relationships (both personal and professional) on the Internet and how this is going to change and evolve over time. This isn’t about who makes the best platform for college students or for business professionals. I believe real-time social communications will end up being a key enabling technology for many other communication services used in the future: presence, location and real-time GPS information will also matter.
Friends of mine in the communications industry might appreciate the fact that it turns out Social Media is one area where the power of an Internet Protocol (IP)-based platform has the unique ability to change the rules of engagement in social communications. There are no legacy technology platforms or incumbents to defend the disruption of this ecosystem. This is one time where innovation and change will continue to be the drivers within this space.
The opportunity is NOW. How you best use Social Media is up to YOU.
Tags: AOL, Facebook, Social Media, Jeff Pulver
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Posted by jeff on August 13, 2007 10:06 AM | Permalink
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Comments
Thank you for bringing such nice posts. Your blog is always fascinating to read.
Posted by: John at September 6, 2007 03:49 AM
How did Nathan get paragraph breaks? My comment kept getting mooshed into a single graf. Harumph.
Posted by: Jack Hodgson at August 15, 2007 08:29 AM
I found this to be the keys to what Jeff said:
"I believe real-time social communications will end up being a key enabling technology for many other communication services used in the future: presence, location and real-time GPS information will also matter."
So does this mean Meebo meets Facebook is the future?
Its interesting that people think about Facebook and Twitter as social media...but I rarely hear chatrooms mentioned when folks speak about new media--maybe thats my own lack of knowledge or exposure. I think the above is true.
To the extent that live twitter convos are much more interesting than just posting...i think this move toward real-time is huge.
I think the second trend is making blogging more social (ie more people involved in the conversation) across platforms and across. I just hope that this means "when you build it, they will come" While location is important, I think the GPS takes a second or third seat to media thats more social. GPS only makes sense in a world of conferences, universities, and high adopter communities like SF.
On a side note, while I like the notion that GPS might encourage more "real world" contact and convos. I think mobile offers MUCH more in terms of linking up and social media. Its already in "mainstream" America's hands and even large cross-sections of the developing world. Alternatively, perhaps rudimentary-GPS will be the next wave of mobile....in a world where music, camera phones, and text have run their course a bit.
Posted by: Nathan Ketsdever at August 15, 2007 02:01 AM
While I agree with your observations about the importance, and effect, of online social media, I don't think that Facebook is the best example of this. -- Your reference to their "open API" seems to me to be a common misconception, which they are encouraging. -- The Facebook API does not allow the creation of external third-party apps, which could leverage the Facebook community. -- Instead Facebook apps are locked into their own environment. They are very limited in what can be done, and how you must do it. -- The powerful cross-pollination of all this stuff comes from being able to mash it up in ways not envisioned by the original creator. Facebook restricts (prohibit?) developer's ability to do this. -- As I said, your points about social media are well made, but there are better examples than Facebook.
Posted by: Jack Hodgson at August 13, 2007 12:29 PM
For all the hype about the Social Web, there isn't much real socialization going on - it's hard to be social when it's all completely asynchronous and static on a web page. When the 'social' revolution takes place, it won't be via the World Wide Web, it will be over the Internet, which far too many people (even in the industry) forget are not the same thing.
Posted by: michael pastor at August 13, 2007 12:05 PM
There is still one way that Old Media can disrupt the evolution of soc-nets, and that is by doing away with Net Neutrality. As we see, they continue a stubborn, stealthy and sinister assault on our ability to choose what we consume, and our freedom to publish. It must infuriate the moguls of media that they no longer guard the gate and exercise their arbitrary power on those who would create and those who consume.
The fight is not over!! Let's all be vigilant and outspoken against these continued attacks on our freedoms. And that goes for all areas of speech, not just the internet.
Posted by: Joe Cascio at August 13, 2007 11:24 AM
You are right Jeff. To me the new fangled social media is going to marry my mobile and become the phone of the future, and I will appreciate the fact that it will have an off button. When I turn it back on because I want to leave my cave, then my network is there and I can quickly catch up with what was going on while I was away or in seclusion, or just gone fishing.
Posted by: Dannie Jost at August 13, 2007 11:18 AM