Social Media is a Return to Roots

On ne voit bien qu'avec le cœur, l'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux.

NOT all changes are meant to make life more efficient.

It could be that it is more of a top priorities change and what is a search for efficiencies basically morph into finding the shortest route to making a quick buck. A plan requiring perseverance, diligence and the correct way of doing things is now replaced by a scheme.

NOT all things change for the better. (Cure is worse than the ailment)

Take a look at agriculture for example. Sure, we have built dams, tractors and other devices to enable us to harvest more crops in less time. Yet, given the situation now, seems like we're far off worse than before if you look at statistics on world hunger. Those processing plants may be giving off more carbon that would basically kill off the people who are supposed to be the consumers. Well, you may argue that the new tools are about giving people more time to do other things. Question is, are those new things about helping more people or about helping themselves to more profit in detriment to self and community? Or shall we say feeding the greed.

Social media isn't new

Sure, it isn't. What actually is new is 'traditional media'. Since it is the one we've been exposed to since we started make full use of our faculties, this generation considers as sort of the de facto. Newspapers, TV and radio have surrounded us like a huge net of information filter meant for us to be more knowledgeable and stay well-informed. Most of us devour it 'hook, line and sinker' without question. Guess, what? Most of these so called info are actually marketing pitches and at worse, propaganda.

Re-birth

We are born into social media through the stories we hear and pass on. As babies and kids, we listen to stories. We learn them by heart and consciously and subconsciously, learn about their subtle meanings as well. We pass it on to other kids and store it in the recesses of our memory only to retrieve it back again upon the twilight of our lives in search for true self.

Social media is the way ancestors pass on news and spread word about things. They pass on knowledge across generations and tribes by telling stories validated by their lives. Foremost among those stories which still remain with us today are tales of heroism or even everyday banter about cures for common ailments, how to till the land or how and when to get a good catch. (Maybe they were really trying to tell us back then that 'comets are bad' judging by the supposed myths about it.). It may not be as idyllic as we ought to believe but it is way better than the lies people in power come to perpetrate nowadays.

Truth is the root

There's lot of talk about harnessing the power of social media because it looks like the in-thing. Yet the true power of social media is being able to peel away the embellishments and going to the core. If people find value in the labor or the product then well and good. Information will spread among communities who find connections across lands they don't even have the faintest idea who or what they look like. It isn't about popularity in an instant. It's about patience and nurturing and the belief that value takes time. To think otherwise, might just be to corrupt it and people as well.

Good thing about it is that people will eventually find out. One just has to look at the roots.

Drive, free and e-SEE

The alternatives for those who do not have the means are increasing as the web continues to evolve. Though some might say that all you need is a PC with a browser and an internet connection, more often, the most important ingredient you will need is drive.

You see, the world of the web now mostly runs on 'the introductory free". Go ahead surf, look for information, search for applications or file storage, you can find plenty that is free. Even with few less options than a premium offer, the free deal is enough to get you started while the rest is up to you.

That is where drive comes in, especially now that schools (Check out Stanford's SEE and the MIT Open Courseware) are taking grand steps to give education a bigger presence in the web. From the simple tips and tutorials coming from people and communities, institutions are beginning to see the value of spreading info and sowing seeds of knowledge. There might be only a handful where the seeds might grow and bear fruit but as more of the seeds spread, the odds continue to stack up on it being picked up and become success stories.

Like free trials or test deployments that web companies offer, there might only be a few that go the full distance. Yet come to think of it, that is all a program needs in infancy while it creates a product of value and keep on going an extra mile.

Web Find:
Wordle: Creating word clouds made free and easy, too

Are you [App] Experienced?

Nice but the proof is in the typing

Everyday for the last 12 months, there hasn't been a dearth of new applications that comes up on my feeds or via network shout-outs. Of course, there will be a bunch of crap or re-hashes of previous app or tools that were either extremely popular or better iterations of incomplete and poorly designed ones but overall, it's all for good because we users are, after all, still in control. We are free to sign-up or ignore, become early adopters or fence-sit without no real horrible consequence except loss of bragging rights.

But is it really just bragging rights? Or do people really find value in the app, tool or system? While most (ok, hundreds of thousands) get it, why do others fail to see that it could also be worth trying out?

Tom Foremski has an interesting post on 'experiential gap'.

" ..... why Twitter is so interesting is one that cannot be conveyed unless you are in it. This is one of the hallmarks of many important applications such as blogging, Facebook, etc. You can't and won't be able "get it" unless you are in it. We have moved beyond "generation gap" differences in technology use and moved into the "experiential gap" in terms of use and understanding. Your experience with an application such as Twitter provides an understanding that cannot be communicated by reading about it or even being told about it.

He goes on to provide more details about what are the characteristics of powerful apps and why they are successful. Oh, I may have to add that 'digital intimacy' thingy as the clincher.

Read more about it here.

Web2Expo Gems: Gary Vaynerchuk loves you!

Gary Vaynerchuk (WineLibrary) speaks about 'killing it' -- with love!

Patience. Passion. Stop Doing Sh1t you hate. Caring about you and your user base. Monetize. Hustle. Legacy. Brand Equity. Transparency. Using all tools available.

Watch this, I beg you and you're on the road to happiness beginning now.

Building Personal Brand Within the Social Media Landscape

Lull means Deep Thoughts

Need to take some time off to do some personal stuff. Quick links while I'm out ....

The ergonomics of innovation (McKinsey - registration needed)
A successful campaign to save 100,000 lives shows that efforts to make it easier for organizations to innovate can yield remarkable results.

Can democracy stifle economic growth?
On Wall Street:
Washington Post's Harold Meyerson

Freakonomics' Stephen Levitt

NPR (with Audio)

4 Monsters in the Cloud: A Scary Story Unfolds

We all love to play devil's advocate especially surrounding a buzz-of-a-topic everyone is all ears on. This is particularly true about cloud computing where web people and not just developers and systems administrators have taken a personal crusade to make sure that their fears about it are properly addressed.

So what are the top cloud computing fears for users, developers and enterprises? Here are the four (4) most common ones that cause apprehension. Let's call them 'Cloud Monsters'.

1. Security and Privacy
2. Data Recovery
3. System Administration
4. Scalability

Related stories:
Privacy, security issues darken cloud computing plans
In search of a silver lining
Cloud Computing Adoption Grows Despite Concerns
Pew study: cloud computing popular, privacy worries linger
Cloud Computing: Securing the Cloud
Cloud Failure: The Myth of Nines
Cloud Computing Opinion: The Goal of "Five Nines" - 99.999% Availability - is Meaningless
Still Cloudy on Cloud Computing: A Matrix to Guide the Coming Policy Debates
What is the State of Cloud Computing?
What Laws Should Govern Computing Clouds?
20 Real-Life Challenges of Cloud Computing
The Obvious Dangers of the Cloud

* * * * *
Web Watch
Wall Street domino blocks will eventually reach the Valley. Tom Foremski's take. Web collaboration tool called Wiggio Blog Tactics: Links out-hustle content Twitterkeys: Moving beyond text into cuteness Report: Nearly 70% of businesses allow social media usage Podcasts: 15 Must-listen Geek Podcasts

WebEx NYC is WEB-verything!

WebExNYC officially begins today!

From the site:
"The inaugural Web 2.0 Expo New York takes the pulse of the Web ecosystem and looks to its future, training a spotlight across the Web 2.0 universe to illuminate how the Internet Revolution is being created and delivered. What will you do with the power of Web 2.0?"

If you're tracking a particular interest like cloud computing or social media (both are well represented judging by the number of sessions, personalities and event sponsors), do check out the calendar of sessions.

In time for the event and its participation at the Expo, Morph Labs launches the Morph AppCloud.

Web Finds:

Blogging: George Orwell on Content Creation. Profound! Plus Writing for New Media. * Reading later or reducing open tabs, here are 11 Sites to help tide you over. * Apple and Disney say "No thanks" to DRM consortium. * Free textbooks isn't free education but is a welcome treat. * Asus Eee's got competition. Dell Inspiron Mini 9. * Simple Sharing via Drop.io * TC50 Controversy. * GoodGuide should have won according to RWW * Chrome Envy for Linux and Mac Users Solved