New and exciting things

How many of you out there have heard the terms, “Social Networking” or “Social Media” or “Web 2.0″. I hadn’t heard of them until recently either. Probably because they are fairly new terms. Should you know them? Damn skippy you should! Not only so that you don’t look like a doof when you can’t join in a modern conversation with peers or colleagues, but if you have kids or grand kids you need to know what the hell they are up to.

Hate to break it to you, ya old fogies, but this ain’t no fade, it’s a REVOLUTION! (Don’t you know it’s gonna be…alright!) It’s this generations hippy awakening. The millenniums sexual revolution, but it is not going to only affect the LSD-trippin’ flower children at Haight Ashbury or Woodstock. Because it is the WORLD WIDE WEB! after all. This is how the youngest of our population will see the world…no boundaries!

There has been no other point in history that so many voices can and will be heard. It is no longer the powerful that step on the little people as they climb the ladder, who will force their ideology down our throats. Have you heard the news reports about the coming death of religion? That’s because it is no longer a few old men spewing hellfire and damnation while brainwashing their flocks. It will go the same with politics and the repression of women and minorities.

The corrupt few have lost control of the many. It’s beautiful!

For those of you who are kicking and screaming your way into this newfangled technological age, here are the Cliffs Notes: (These brief descriptions were lifted directly from Wikipedia, to find out more info, look up each of these terms individually.)

Web 2.0:Web 2.0 is a term describing the trend in the use of World Wide Web technology and web design that aims to enhance creativity, information sharing, and, most notably, collaboration among users. Examples would be wiki, blog and folksonomy websites.

Social Media: Social media is an umbrella term that defines the various activities that integrate technology, social interaction, and the construction of words, pictures, videos and audio. This interaction, and the manner in which information is presented, depends on the varied perspectives and “building” of shared meaning among communities, as people share their stories, and understandings. Examples would be Wikipedia, Flickr and YouTube.

Social Networking: A social network service uses software to build online social networks for communities of people who share interests and activities or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others. Examples would be MySpace and FaceBook. It is not just for pleasure any more either, but for business as well on such sites as LinkedIn.

Micro-blogging: A form of blogging that allows users to write brief text updates (usually less than 200 characters) and publish them, either to be viewed by anyone or by a restricted group which can be chosen by the user. Examples of this are Twitter, Pownce or Plurk.

It’s a booming industry folks. Check ‘em out!