Writer, Agilist, Elder Geek
Dan Schwabel's "Me 2.0" book had me thinking on Gen X versus Gen Y use of Social Media. Being a person that moves among different age groups pretty easy, I've been thinking over how people use social media differently. Though I think there's a Gen X-versus-Gen Y difference (that is more a continuum), I've begun speculating that social media is useful in careers and life – but often misused.
Blatant biased opinion and analysis follows.
Looking over games, blogs, news sites, etc. one thing strikes me about the future of ALL businesses.
All businesses are going to have to be customer-engaged to succeed. They'll need posts, comments, Tweets, emails, FAQS, forums, and more because THAT is the new normal.
Part of this is the influence of social media, of course (as I noted, social media is normal anyway), but part of this is the accessibility the internet provides. People expect to be able to communicate, get answers, get information, etc.
We hear constantly about Social Media these days until many of us are sick of it (I'm getting a bit tired of hearing about it myself). In all the discussions, analysis, articles, witty twitters, and so on, one thing gets missed. I'd like to discuss it since social media is both a geeky life tool, a geeky career tool, and a geeky career destination.
And that fact is that Social Media offers nothing new.
Blasphemy, many will say, but it's the truth. Social Media is completely unoriginal, and that's why it works.