Is Social Media a Fad?

“If Facebook  was a country it would be the world’s 4th largest” – I paused, thought about it again, and smiled after watching this video presentation posted on Youtube by a colleague member of the social media group on Linkedin. The 21st Century virtual world is growing enormously and I think it’s based on the fundamental fact that the cyber world has no boundaries let alone, a President, Minister or immigration officer to be in charge. No visa needed, the only green card of citizenship is getting internet access. The speed at which we travel is only a click away in the cyber world.

If the number of people in this virtual world is skyrocketing then obviously, it’s become part of our life today. Some of us first login to our social network pages after launching our browsers before checking emails. Number of friends online are becoming more than offline friends again regardless boundaries with increase in diversity. The spirit of network building among various interest groups in the cyber world is countless – we see it in various discussion groups and forums on Ning, Google, Yahoo, etc. Besides, there’s been high increase in online education according to a report by US Department of Education. Not to mention the high rate of online banking and transactions on Amazon, EBay, and PayPal. In this information age, what happens to anyone in any country stays on; Facebook, Orkut, Bebo, Flickr, Digg, MySpace, Youtube, etc.

News papers are experiencing record decline in circulation because we no longer search for the news, the news finds us. For example, more and more pieces of content (web links, news stories, articles, blog posts, notes, articles, photos, videos, podcasts, etc.) are shared on Facebook and Twitter daily. In the near future, we will no longer search for products and services; they will find us with social media.

No wonder businesses and government institutions are partaking in social media activities to reach out to their share of the virtual community. Many business organisations are using Linkedin, Monster.com and Dice.com as their primary tool to find employees. Others target Ads based on either your PC internet protocol (IP) address to determine your location or content of your keywords in search results to market their products and services. If businesses want to innovate and grow, it depends on how they value and treat information as I mentioned in my first blog post "Is business life water". Successful companies in social media act more like party planners, aggregators and content providers than traditional advertisers – by listening first and selling second.

Some government use social media to communicate and engage citizens in various policy programs for their country. Others use social media as a target for their campaign purposes.

In this new dawn of the 21st Century, I am yet to read about “Cybernomics Theory” proposed by today’s Adam Smith, depicting the “digital hand” rather than the “invisible hand”.

Social media isn’t a fad, it’s a fundamental shift in the way we live, communicate, connect and relate to each other in the 21 Century. So see you on Facebook and don’t forget to twitt my blog!

© Harry Tetteh

Who's in Charge?

Have you thought for a second about this; does the way we live our lives today gives technology much authority over our lives? For instance, today’s world would not be adaptable to people of a few generations ago and nowhere is this truism greater than in the world of computing. Over the years, technologies have been invented to address society's problems or to fulfil its growing desire for speed and convenience. The microchip has truly revolutionised the way in which we live and work. Technology pretty much touches all of our lives in some way and hence technology news is a vital resource that can keep us up to date with developments and changes in the 21st Century.

Take an average work day of a 'knowledge worker', someone whose main work day is around information. For example, a programmer, a stock broker, an investor, a sales person, a consultant and other office workers.

He probably has a cell phone, a laptop and an organizer. This is in addition to the land line he has on his desk. Of course he also has a desktop computer, or a laptop that he takes with him at home and on trips. On that computer, he must have email, e.g. Microsoft Outlook probably with immediate notification when a message arrives. He also has an Instant Messaging program, such as Yahoo Messenger, ICQ or Skype. He has client contacts on all of those means of communication, as well as family and friends too. He may also have other network contacts from Facebook, LinkedIn or Myspace whiles keeping updates with interested news on Twitter.

A Skype message pops up with a client asking for a quote on something. Meanwhile, his sister pops up on Yahoo Messenger asking him about how a relative is doing. An email notification comes in with a SPAM announcing mortgage rates. Another email message pops up about corporate news. His office phone rings with a colleague asking him something work related. Outlook Calendar pops up a video conference meeting reminder. His cell phone keeps beeping about an SMS text message he earlier got from a friend. He also needs to check the latest news on the web, the latest comic movie, some corporate information and newsletters.

Well, I think you get the idea now. Life is turning into a series of interrupted interruptions and leaving us the question – who is in charge? How is someone supposed to do any work or enjoy some reading/research without being interrupted? The sheer number of ways that we can be contacted here and now is always multiplying. As a result, our attention span is shorter and shorter as time goes by. The only time for peace and quiet - where you may be in charge may well be on a remote island with a book where there is no technology – not even a cell phone and internet.


© Harry Tetteh