Are You Part of the Social Media Prism?

Posted on December 5, 2008 by Ellen Mrja

Had a wonderful lunch today with a great local writer, John Gaterud. He’s an even greater friend I first got to know in the early 80s when he, Benidt and I molded young minds at then-Mankato State University. I tell you, those young minds have not been the same since.

(A recommendation: For those not familiar with John’s work, I’d invite you to check out the beautiful Stardust and Fate, a collection edited and published last year by John and his daughter Abbey. If you value words, stories and typography you’ll value this book.)

John and I were laughing about the brave new world of social media we aging hipsters are tip-toeing into these days..blogs, twitter, facebook, LinkedIn. And it reminded me of a posting by Brian Solis, who some say is the guru of social media networking. Solis believes we’re all going to have to learn how to navigate our way around and through this social media prism unless we want to become extinct in the 21st century. (Not really. I’m making that last part up.)

Take a look at this prism. Like your secret crush in 8th grade who didn’t know you were alive, it’s both pretty and intimidating. It’s pretty intimidating.

social-media-prism

Wow. Staring at this social media prism intently, as if for the first time, I wonder… If I take it just one little bit at a time, could I do it? Could this 35-year-plus baby-boomer, who’s quickly losing her short term memory, possibly learn and then keep up with it all? Let’s see. There’s pownce. ning. Twiki. flickr. Zimbra. Furl. del.icio.us. Bacn.

Hmmm…Bacon…

Did I tell you I had a wonderful lunch today…

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2 Responses

  1. Kris M, on December 6th, 2008 at 10:50 am Said:

    From one of those you three molded so well, when did communication get so complex? I think I need a nap!

    Reply
  2. Mike Keliher, on December 6th, 2008 at 7:40 pm Said:

    Coming from someone who’s done more than his fair share of social media-ing, er, conversation prism-ing — or whatever the hell we’ll call what I do all day — I’ll assure you that there’s an opposite challenge:

    Some folks have to try to at least tip-toe into these wild waters of the Web (that’s WWW, of course) to avoid extinction, to use Ellen’s word. Others have to remind themselves to tip-top right the hell out of Twitterland from time to time, lest they turn into a narrow-minded borg.

    There’s no less danger in going too webby than in going too little webby.

    Reply

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