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……)

Mr Twitter

Mr Twitter published on 5 Comments on Mr Twitter

Is this the man of 1,000 faces? No, not quite…..

When I thought up this comic, I checked to see if it had been done before.
As far as I have been able to tell, this piece of absolute comedy gold has not been used before! Amazing!
It is such as easy joke to make, that it makes me wonder why it has not been done before?

My theory on this is that all the funny people out there (you know, the ones who are super ultra cool & really “get” twitter) are busy making hilarious new words with a “TW” at the front of it.
For example:
twalking: walking while twittering via text
twake-up: tweeting as soon as you wake up in the morning, mostly before performing any other morning ritual
twelp: asking for help
twerfew: a self-imposed time of night after which no more tweets are allowed
tweetypo: a typo in a tweet
twleep: state resembling sleep

Ha ha ha ha ha ha !
Oh, ok… Let me just wait until you have goten your breath back after laughing so hard……

My issue with these kinds of terms is threefold.

  1. Most of these words are longer than the real word, so they actually take up additional characters in a tweet
  2. They are, on the whole, extremely hard to say and make you sound like you have a speech impediment when you attempt to drop them into conversations to display how cool & with-it you are.
  3. Using most of these words display just how uncool & out of touch with things you really are.
    (seriously – these “tw” terms are soooooo end of 2008.)

So, I hope my little rant has got you thinking.
Now can we move on and please stop regurgitating things tat were never really funny to begin with?
Please?

Continue reading Mr Twitter

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 ’em3 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 Research Department

Facebook Research Department published on 5 Comments on Facebook Research Department

The secret to facebook’s product development research revealed!

Lately, facebook has been implementing new features, which look suspiciously like functions that already appear in a very popular micro-blogging platform.
And the response to these implementations have not been received with the overly positive response that was perhaps expected.

Twitter users were outraged.

Facebook users were outraged.

Many people have blogged and suggested that Facebook has merely copied popular elements of other popular sites in an effort to make sure that current FB users remain with the site, as well as attracting users from the other sites to fall back in love with Facebook again.

Whatever the reasons – the main question that I think needs to be asked is this:

“Are Facebook making changes because it will enhance their user experience, or is it just a case of jealousy?”

Change for change sake is never good.
Time will have to tell with this one.