Posts tagged social

Birth of New Media

Birth of New Media published on 5 Comments on Birth of New Media

The invention of New Media has finally been discovered!

New media is a term meant to encompass the emergence of digital or networked information and communication technologies in the later part of the 20th century. Most technologies described as “new media” are digital. Eg: the Internet, websites, computer multimedia, computer games, CD-ROMS, etc.
Television programs, feature films, magazines, books, or paper-based publications are not classed as New Media.

But they were new at some point, way back in history.

I have visions of the village storyteller and the town crier banding together to denounce the evils of printed books & news.
Warning that the new ways of writing things down are evil and will only be a short lived fad, enjoyed by the dimwitted, gullible & young.
At the same time, I picture marketers pitching ideas to storekeepers, about ways they can harness the new promotional powers that writing could bring.

Perhaps there were even Nigerian Princes penning long heartfelt letters requesting assistance, and sending them to the common masses with promises of riches, if they simply wrote back and printed their bank account information in a letter…..

I do not fear technology and new methods of communication. I understand that these new ways simply need to be tried, understood and given their proper place in the scheme of things.

Anyway, I must go now. I have just won 1 Million Pounds in the Spanish Lottery and must send them my bank details straight away, so I can get my winnings!
(So strange that I do not remember entering that lottery……)

He has never facebooked

He has never facebooked published on 11 Comments on He has never facebooked

Do you also find it amazing that some people still do not use facebook?

Isn’t there a law or something, that says everyone should be using some form of social media by now?

I am from an age group that watched the internet get born & flourish. I had no twitter, facebook, identica, myspace, bebo, etc when I was younger.

My triple screen was way more awesome that these double screen games that everyone else had.
My triple screen was way more awesome that these double screen games that everyone else had.

Heck, I even remember playing computer games on a black & green screen that were run from data on a cassette tape!

I recall showing my friends “PONG” and they were astounded.

There was even the time that I was king of the school for about a month, when I got a handheld Donkey Kong Jr game that had 3 – count ’em – 3 screens!

Now, even after growing up through all of the electronics progresses of the 80’s to now, I am sometimes very surprised to learn that someone is NOT using twitter, facebook, etc.

I am not alone in this. The younger generation just expect that people are using the same online tools as themselves.

People who don’t, get shunned in the same way that when I was young, you got shunned for still playing Pacman on a tabletop machine rather than a handheld device.

It is amazing how quickly we are accepting of new services & technology, and just think of them as “the norm”.

I wonder how long it will be now, until we laugh at people for using twitter or emial, rather than Google Wave??

Facebook in real life

Facebook in real life published on 5 Comments on Facebook in real life

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you did the things that you do in facebook, in real life?

Obviously, a lot of what you do online happens in a virtual space only. However, social media has interactions with real people and real lives, which is why it is so popular.
Interactions, comments and relationships that occur in the virtual arena can easily crossover to your real life and influence it.

For many people, the relationships they create & maintain online via social media networking, actually is a real life interaction as well – even if they have never met the person at the other end of the click.
Their online networking is just an extension of how they connect to people.

Everyone has heard stories of people meeting online and marrying, or having a relationship that destroys their real-life relationship.
Also on the rise, are the stories of people adding comments to sites which are then unintentionally found by the subject of the comment. Mostly, these interactions do not end well.

Modern social networkers can actually sometimes have an inability to distinguish between the online and offline worlds.
This can lead to some disturbing results, but at the same time, may lead to amazing groundbreaking discoveries or ideas.

But overall, I find that the things we do to friends online would normally have us arrested if we tried it in real life!
Go on – test my theory.
Go and steal your neighbours cow and see what happens…….

Modern mating calls

Modern mating calls published on 4 Comments on Modern mating calls

Media influences our language, often bringing popularity to words or phrases which then become a part of the “normal” spoken language.
Social networks & online media is no different.

Many words that use today may come from social media or the internet.
Think about it
– Have you recently said you would ‘tweet’ something?
– ‘LOL‘ed at a joke
– told someone you were facebooking
– asked if you can ‘haz‘ something? (cringe)

These terms sneak in so gradually that it feels natural.
This is not a bad thing. It is certainly not a ‘FAIL‘.

The language needs to keep evolving, as it has done since it was created, in order to stay relevant and reflect what we experience in everyday life.

So, the scenario above is not that hard to imagine.
If you know someone who has tried using “cool” terms like this to pick up, please leave a comment below and dob them in. They deserve to be PWNED.

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