Up until 2010, new media for me meant the stuff my teenage son used to fill in yawning gaps in his life. It loosely encompassed the bits of the internet other than email and internet shopping like online gaming, music and YouTube. Social media? Well, Facebook was for terminally indiscreet ‘friend’ collectors. Twitter? … well the name seemed to say it all.
To fill my own yawning gaps that had emerged in the life of an unemployed financial services manager in recession, I signed up for a Master’s degree. Back in college, I found that the place I had used as the template for creativity and modernity in my life was completely changed. Knowledge, research and communication was 100% on line. Within the wired community, everything was accessible, and participation was the point.
Back at home I started to look at the task of building a business or getting a job differently. Using online sources I could move from fishing with ideas to presenting well researched and illustrated ‘white papers’ . I joined and then participated in specialist online groups. When I saw something relevant to my field – an article by some journalist or expert – I commented. On my website, I began to link everything together. It became like writing emails – something that was part of the normal day. Soon I had a profile. If I searched my name, I could see content I had written. And as I saw it, others see it. Now I am not just listening and reading – I am writing a blog.
For most of us using the new media will not result in the fall of governments. And yet starting right now, you and I can write something that will still be around contributing to knowledge 5,10 years from now. I noticed recently that in my field, leasing, there is just one article in Wikipedia explaining something that I have spent 15 years learning and doing. Now, according to recent research, 26% of internet users use Wikipedia to find stuff out. Think about all those people worldwide and over time- customers, your children wondering what you do, journalists, inspired individuals in new markets needing knowledge. All I have to do is create an account, and start adding a little bit, expanding some details, writing a new piece about the bit that I know really well.
What do you know and what can you share? New media is not them, its us. Its not superficial nonsense, its an industrial and social revolution, happening now. Pick your entry point and start typing.
