I bet you’re a boiling frog and you just don’t know it. Think I am wrong? I don’t.
The internet has been around for some time, but it has really been the last 5-10 years where the growthhas been truly exponential. It is estimated that about a quarter ofthe world’s population, or 1.6 Billion people currently use theInternet (see AMD’s questionably accurate, yet still very cool Internet Usage Counter). It took a while for the promise of the Information Superhighway to come to fruition, but not many realize how significant an impact that “Internet enabled social networking“ has on everything – not merelyrewriting the rules on media, marketing and brand management, but alsoon democracy, censorship and the pursuit of truth and freedom.
In the video below, Clay Shirky talks us through how the ubiquitousinternet has transformed the media landscape and as it continues tobecome more “social”, that all conventional media (newspaper, radio,television and movies) is converging and integrating into “the net”.
So where does this “boiling frog” come in? If you haven’t heard of this analogy, you can read about it on Wikipedia. The “boiling frog” is a metaphor for those who may not notice thechange around them, until it is too late to react properly. Well, youmight say hey – I GET IT – as Ivisualize the associated “inner” chest pounding that might accompanythe statement. You’ll point to the fact that you’re all overFacebook which has all but replaced your “personal” email account activity. Heck, you think you’re bleeding edge because you have a LinkedIn profile. Oh yeah, you’re playing with the cool cats now.
Boiled Frogs Might Appear On A Menu Near You…
The challenge is when you say “social networking”, most people think“cool, fun but basically a time waster”. The information filtering,brand enabling, networking facilitation that these technologies bringjust seem to be “lost in the translation” – it all seems toocomplicated and “fuzzy”, and the real business value doesn’t seem to bethere for them. And then the trump card comes out – “besides, I don’t have the time to spend”.
What those words are really saying is, “unlike YOU, who seem to havethe time”, I’m much busier and rather use the free time I have in otherways. And honestly, they are right.It does take time to “figure it out”. The problem is, others arefiguring it out and for those who invest the time, it’s a competitiveadvantage for THEM. And once you “figure it out”, you realize it’s 10xbetter than your “old way” of engaging, advertising, branding andgrowing your tribe. But you might be late to the party…and the waythat ends is always a toss up!
Cable Networks, Advertisers, Real Estate Agents, Recruiters, NewsMedia – just a handful of paradigms that are getting turned upsidedown. And amidst all this, Twitter is poised to change the way we communicate in the here and now. Still don’t see it?
Stay Tuned. Making “IT” Work – it’s what I do. I’m back – hope you come back. Thanks for the time!
