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Welcome friends! Lovely to have you here. So where exactly is "here"? And what on earth is a ThinkerBelle? "Here" is a blog space on all things that interest this little strategist, namely design, social media and technology. I like to think that "ThinkerBelle" (my strategist persona) lives at the intersection of these three domains. I hope you enjoy this space, please comment and don't be a stranger. I appreciate you being here. Follow me in the tweetverse if you like @thaz7. Stay groovy.
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Time to connect.
OK, so I’ve blogged my little heart out about social media. I have said it before and I’ll say it over and over that it is absolutely changing the way we communicate. Whether or not you like it. And yes. I did read the NY Times article that facebook users are leaving in droves. But if you think social media is defined by a single entity like facebook (or even twitter), you’re mistaken. It’s so much more.
Social media for so long has been “defined” by the MySpaces and Facebooks (or bebos, linkedins or I daresay friendsters) of the world. Defined largely as places to share life commentary (AKA stalking exes), post photos of fun life moments, and tell people when you are eating a hamburger, many people (and brands) believe it to be fleeting–really just a place to indulge narcissists and complainers. But the gazillion “successes” of social media for brands have made people start to think twice. See: the wiki that changed all wiki’s-Peter Kim’s master list of over 500 social media examples. http://wiki.beingpeterkim.com/
I’m not here to sell social media. I’m sold. You should be too by now. What I would love to do is start to think about HOW it changes the conversation (urgh. bad marketing speak. my apologies). WHY do we use facebook/myspace. WHY twitter? Some hypotheses to indulge my developmental psychology side for a moment.
1. We are narcissts. We are curious creatures. And there’s nothing wrong with that. We are finally allowed to be ourselves, without feeling guilty for simply fulfilling a human need to understand and share with fellow humans.
2. The world is fast. Durrh. Of course it is. But I don’t think anyone, even 5 years ago thought it would ever get THIS fast. Updates are flashing in seconds–news travels at exponential speeds. The hand-written letter (albeit a lost art in my eyes), the newsletter or even the email has taken a back seat to status updates. Communication had to adapt to the speed of technology. And from it social media was born.
3. We are getting smarter. The thirst for knowledge is back with a vengence. Call it the glorification of the nerd, but technology is finally sexy. The sexier it is, the less apologetic we have to be about being smart. This is not a space for the faint of heart–social media is for the gutsy, brainy individuals. It’s not about plastering your life story to read (face it, it’s probably not that exciting), but it’s about being willing to JOIN a conversation. And not feeling shy or apologetic. Consumers, haters, lovers and PEOPLE unite–we’re ALL listening now.
