The Age of Information
I enjoy writing, expressing my beliefs, because it’s just you, your pen (more likely to be a keyboard), and your paper (more likely to be Microsoft Word). It’s just as creative as taking a picture or making music in my opinion. Sharing thoughts, information, and just one’s own general view of things is great. I took a Media class at Santa Monica College (a fantastic course, by the way) which talked about what it means to be in the Information Age, an age where you can pull a device out of your pocket, and do almost anything. I think people often take it for granted that we have such a powerful device, along with having a rapidly developing technological world fueled by the internet and large companies such as Facebook, Apple, and Google. Seriously, the fact that I have a really nice camera, a flashlight, a photo editor, a calendar, a timer, a news editorial, a game system, and so much more than a phone in my pocket blows my mind. I know that I don’t use it to the fullest potential, like many people, which is why I’m starting to further look into how I can use it to help out. Thanks to Apple for designing such a stellar device, seriously!
Social Media is such a new thing, it’s only a baby. Facebook came out in 2004. That’s just 11 years ago. I just watched an awesome video where Chase Jarvis, a favorite photographer of mine, interviews Gary Vaynerchuk, an incredibly successful and skilled social marketer / entrepreneur. In the interview, Gary discusses the current general public perception of social media and what it means, along with other topics such as harnessing the connection you can make directly with the consumer via social media. A strong point he made is that people, everyone in the world, are still getting used to social networks and online media. It’s still developing, and I find that exciting. Most people try to focus on quantity, the number of people who “follow” them, through instagram tags such as “#likeforlike, #followme” but that’s just essentially a popularity contest in my view. If your content is “good” and genuine, you shouldn’t have to use hashtags like that. What is “good” content? Good content is stuff you like and enjoy, that other people like. It doesn’t have to be an epic sunset shot, it can be an interesting picture of yourself, your delicious food, your art, something funny, something you experienced, etc. Social media is used by people to share a story, no matter how seemingly insignificant or important it is.
That’s really cool.
If you want to check out the hour long interview I mentioned (you should), click here.
