Will Blogs, Facebook, and Twitter Fade?
Over at EandPPub.com, they are asking a question of the day and I Tweeted the link because I found both the question and the comments very interesting.
We discuss a number of new tools here, and try to identify best practices for use in the grdaute classroom. When we talk about innovation, however, often the best practices are a long way from refinement. How learners used Facebook two years ago is dramatically different than today. But to add my thoughts to the EandPPub question:
Blogs:
Self expressive writing has been around a very long time. In the context of the Internet, I was fortunate to work on an early blogging project: Behind the Viewfinder, a Year in the LIfe of Photojournalism in 1998, long before we had the word blogging. What WordPress, Blogger, LiveType and other tools have done is make it easy to create atractive writing and even monetize the process. People will continue to use writing and blogging as a form of self expression. And just as the tool described before have made the process easier to manage, new tools will adapt and improve on their utility.
Facebook:
Students have shared with me that they use facebook because it puts everyting in one place for them to stay connected. Photos, status, email, chat, news, shopping… So to that end, Facebook and MySpace are evolutions of AOL and Compuserve from the user’s perspective. AOL and Compuserve also brought connectivity to millions through easy to use interfaces. While Facebook and MySpace as brands may fade, evolve, merge, or fade, the utility will remain. I often explain to people unfamiliar with Facebook that for many people, it has replaced the kitchen refrigerator door as a central communication hub. (Note, in some parts of the country, I know, people do not use their refrigerator door this way, maybe its a Midwestern thing…..)
Twitter:
This is the one which baffles non users (and some users) the most. But simplified, Twitter is a tool that allows one to one or one to many text communciation that is device independent (web, cell phone, iPhone, gadget). Someone will find a way to monetize the concept, and the Twitter brand may find a new competetor, but the idea will grow and evolve.
In closing and for historical perspective, one of the original business models for the telephone in the late 1800’s was a subscription service for music. The thought was you would dial a number on Friday evenings and head a band concert live in another town. As odd as that may seem today, Apple is still refing how to deliver music on the phone via iTunes and iPhone.
