This is a befitting post, seeing as how it has been a while since a new post has gone up here on the site. Years ago now (it feels like); we started seeing buzzwords like: "Web 2.0", "Dynamic Content", "User Created", etc. And I heard several interviews and read several stories on tech reports/commentators saying the internet would eventually gravitate towards a more friendly space for user created content. And then sites like
YouTube popped up. Even being what some considered to be fly-by-night fads in pop culture. I mean seriously, who wants to see videos of people doing stupid things? lol
However, as time has moved on and the technology evolved; it is becoming more accessible to create your own content without a doubt. And throughout the growth of media sharing sites and resources we have seen an infancy of this "Web 2.0". Where teenage girls cry because their pop star crush got committed to rehab, or yet another skateboarder kid grinds his skateboard off of a roof and into the bushes or a pool. Sure, we may get kicks out of those kinds of videos. But that isn't what it's all about. And people are starting to stand up and take notice.
I find it simply amazing that we have access to the venues that have only previously been available to those who could buy it. Think back to even 12 years ago (year 2000). The web was still basically used for checking email, news, looking at static web pages (for the most part), and the start of widespread online gaming. Where news and television networks pretty much owned to media outlets. Now flash forward to today, 2012. Everything from televisions, phones, books, and even certain refrigerators are web connected. Our phones have WAY more power than the technology used to put man on the moon. And we carry them in our pockets and purses. And technology is continually growing and information is literally everywhere.
Yes, we have gone way past the point of technology "
pissing contests" and trying to see who has the faster desktop computer or the best graphics card or the most RAM when compared to our buddies computers. Instead, technology has become much more of a "
meta" (for lack of a better word) experience. Meaning most of us are constantly connected and sharing something with someone or a group of someones. Even if your content seems trivial, you are sharing it. Posting to sites like
Facebook,
Twitter, chatting online with friends, video chatting, or even making videos for
YouTube. And in the process you are adding your information, experiences, and memories to a giant database which is becoming our present-history. Today's children will continue to build upon the foundations of concepts like social networking, media creation, and communication and at the rate in which this technology is growing...We may not even recognize this foundation in another 30 years. So what are we going to leave for them to grow from. Videos of another "Baseball Nut Shot" or someone ranting because they are obsessed with a singer. Why not leave something more meaningful?
These are just some simple musings and observations I have made over the last several weeks when browsing through
YouTube and looking at sites like
Facebook. And one thing I have noticed with all of these social/media venues is:
we all have a voice. And one thing we want, is to be heard. Maybe it's the old saying of "
everybody wants their 15 minutes of fame". But maybe nowadays, this statement should be revised. Maybe it should be: "
we all have a story" or something similar.
I have said all of that to say this. The web isn't in it's infancy anymore. And it hasn't been for some time. But it seems that people are starting to really wake up and see what tools we have available. Twenty years ago we relied on broadcasting talents like
Walter Cronkite and
Peter Jennings to give us the important news we needed to know about. In our local communities our
Sunday Newspapers were to the source of "
What's Happening?". But not anymore. Now we look to sites like
Google to tell us what we need to know.
Yet again now, in 2012; anybody with a cell phone or a computer/tablet with internet access can break news stories anywhere in the world. And within a portion of a second, they can fire out a quick note about what is going on to be seen by potentially millions of people all over the globe. People who are considered well versed or experts in their crafts suddenly have an outlet for teaching others their professions and passions. People whose writings would have only ever seen the inside of a spiral bound notebook and probably stuck in a box or thrown away years later; now have a place to publish their work and have an equal chance at gaining notoriety with a whole community of fans or unsuspecting peers. This is the power we have at our finger tips now.
And I leave you with the words of Spiderman: "
With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility" and this has never been more fitting than it is now. Sure, we can use these social media outlets for fun. And that's a big part of it. But if you have continued to read this post to this point, I call you to action to keep an open mind and maybe see how you can contribute (in a positive way) to our current web. Share something encouraging with someone else on
Facebook (publicly), or find your passion and use the web to teach others. And you may find that your voice speaks more volume than you may have ever known.
Chime in with you comments below.
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