An Essential Persepctive

Note: Today’s guest post is from Dan Miranda of Command Your Time. Please take the time to read his post as there is an important reveal inside that addresses one of the essential truths of our collective future.

The year was 2003 when I first clicked “Enter” on the Yahoo.com sign up page. I was excited as any young man could have been. I had just received my first e-mail address and it was a more significant moment than I had imagined. Having a virtual home gave me reason to explore the Internet and changed my life forever.

1. Social Media. This is probably the most obvious one. I think it’s certain that sites we haven’t even heard of will give Facebook, Twitter, and Myspace a run for their money. Out of the three aforementioned sites though, I think Facebook will end up being the most successful, with Twitter at a close second.
2. Blogging in form of videos. We have seen footprints of what could be a huge explosion. If YouTube challenges Viddler, we could see a magnificent battle for the top “blogger-friendly” video making website. I’m assuming everybody is going to have a much higher bandwidth and hopefully the sites will reflect this.
3. Search engines. They’ll be more precise and won’t just cover the web. They will be our official directory. Google will remain prominent in that scene, but will slyly expand into bigger, better things. For instance, it’s my belief that we won’t refer to Google as a search engine, but rather a complex website with a ton of great features (ie: GMail, Google Maps, Google Reader, etc).

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The Different Layers of Online Friendships

Exploring Online Friendships

The Internet experience without personal connection is like going to a party, standing in the corner and just watching while everybody else is having a good time.  There might be a few interesting moments, but you’d be missing the point of the party.  Enter online friendships.

I started blogging for many reasons, but have come to cherish online friendships the most.  Whether for collaborative purposes or just to have a fellow blogger share a common interest, it is human connection that renders blogging into such a rich experience.  In this post I will discuss the different aspects of various online relationships while defining their purpose and potential.

From shallow to deep…

8: The Comment Conversation. This is one of the ‘lightest’ connections, but also one of the best when beginning.  A simple @SoAndSo with a few thoughts to fallow and you’re one step closer to a fellow citizen of the sphere.  Many of these will never move past the first reply and might even go without one, but this should not discourage your attempts to connect in an effective yet subtle way.

7: A social media ‘nudge’. Whether it be a tap on the back in Twitter or a post on another bloggers Facebook wall, attempting to connect through social media is a great way to dig a little deeper.  Subtle, but also more direct than engagement through comments, this scenario is often a great way to plant a seed of relational recognition.

6: Direct email. If the first two mentions are like sharing a few words while passing at a party, then sending an email would be the Blogopolis equivalent to sending someone a text message.  There’s certainly a lot more potential for rejection, and you are asking a bit more from the person on the other end, but if you are successful with this sort of connection, your options for future relations increase exponentially.

5: Instant Messaging. If email is like a text message, than IM’ing is a phone call.  The stakes go WAY UP, but so do the possibilities.  Just like a phone call, the person may answer, but may also quickly retreat from the conversation.  You might get a “hello,” quickly followed by a “it was nice talking to you” two sentences later.  This method of outreach should be approached with extra caution.  If the other party is not interested in the exchange, they must feel comfortable backing out.  If a connection IS made, you will be just a few steps away from a new addition to your online friendships.

4: Audio chat. Similar to a phone call, this option breaks the ’sound barrier’ when it comes to connection.

3: Video Chat. This is the Blogoplis equivalent to asking someone out for a cup of coffee.  You are face to face and voice to voice.  Many bloggers are private and this is sometimes asking too much.  Working up slowly to this is almost always the way to go.  Jump right in with, “You want to video chat?” and you might just scare off the very blogger you’re trying to connect with.

2: Phone call. Not necessarily more personal than an audio and/or video chat, but there’s definitely something different about speaking with a blogger on the phone.  It’s as if you’ve removed your blogging hats for the moment.  Maybe it’s because you use that same connection to talk to your spouse or local friends.  The phone is almost a half a step outside of Blogopolis, making it a singular experience.  I know when Sean and I first spoke on the phone we shared an odd feeling between us as the almost surreal world of the blogosphere grew tangible for the first time.

1: Meeting in person. Nothing compares to a handshake or a hug.  No amount of technology can replicate the power of human touch and the experience of sharing the same oxygen.  I’ve yet to meet a resident of Blogoplis in person, but I know this will soon change.  This is not necessity for strong blogging relationships to blossom, but certainly a worthwhile progression for your most cherished online friendships.

Get your feet wet first.

Each blogging connection will be different and none follow a single set of rules, but there ARE some common progressions worth pointing out.

Sometimes you may just fall into a conversation or find yourself on the other end of a great email from your future blogging buddy, but for the rest of the time it is best to start small.  I listed the different connection types in a progressive format for the benefit of this part of the post.  Starting with an @ kind of ‘hello’ is often times the best way to get your face in front of another blogger you may want to befriend.  After a few positive replies, moving to that next step of direct connection will help progress the possibilities.

Once you feel like the two of you are comfortable connecting through email, it might be time to share a chat.  Always be sure to keep the conversation about the other blogger, or at least when the ball is in your court.  As in any real life relationship, no one likes an attention hog.  Finally, if you find your connection is more than that of the occasional, “How ‘ya doing?”  you may decide that regular face to face (most likely of the video kind) is where you’ll end up.  By this point you are certainly sharing a two sided online friendship, and have successfully tapped into the best Blogopolis has to offer.

Eric

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Changing the World

There is no doubt, blogs are changing the world.  Only a few years old, something entirely new is already evolving into something entirely different.  Their immediate accessibility gave instant rise to a new fad, but the inherent power and immediate validation pushed blogging closer toward revolution.

Blogging gave birth to social media, and social media is fundamentally altering the manner in which millions of readers access information.  Blogs have democratized media, and though they have not yet fully wrested control from the gatekeepers, the inevitability is impossible to argue.

Prior to the internet, information was accessed primarily through print, radio, and television.  What saw the bright light of day and what remained forever buried were decisions arrived at by a relative few.

The birth of blogging busted the dam.

Traditional media is an endangered species.  The number of people reliant on the old gatekeepers will continue to dwindle; tired soldiers in a war that is already lost.  A new breed of writers have been born into this new world where it matters not where you went to school or engineered an internship, but rather the wisdom in your words and clarity of your voice.

Blogging is the great equalizer.  We all start with equal sound, it’s our responsibility to spread it.

Blogging is only the impetus to even greater change.  It isn’t blogging so much as the democratization of information that will lead to an alteration in everything from our entertainment to our government.  Consider the following.

Entertainment: Music, movies, literature, television… it’s all about to change.  Though much will be done to impede the transition, there is no doubt the voices up high have been dimmed by the rallying cry of the rabble below.  Changes in distribution will lead to changes in everything else.  HD-DVD and Blue-Ray were fighting a war that was over before it even started.  Either winner the last of its tribe; hard media soon a fossilized memory.  Tomorrow’s authors, artists and musicians will not require a team of people to anoint their talent.  They will need a clear voice alongside the ability to spread it.

Government: Sure, we live in a democracy now, but it is nothing compared to the possibility lying at the lip of tomorrow.  For the last century, it has grown increasingly difficult for our leaders to bloom with the full American Promise, the idea that a nobody can blossom into somebody deep from the depths of nowhere.  Soon enough, a clear voice will be able to rise from the masses, articulate the issues, and compete with career politicians.  When sound bites are no longer in heavy rotation, the landscape of politics (and elections) will be forever altered.

Labor: We’ve already witnessed a monumental shift in the way we work online.  This will continue to evolve until the old methods seems as quaint as changing the ribbon on a manual typewriter.  Collaboration is key.  Blogging allows people to come together in a new way, not possible before.  Spend some time roaring down the right roads of Blogopolis and you are sure to find rich contacts and even richer opportunities.

Transformation is inevitable.  Though it will not arrive in a sudden storm, it will most certainly wash our world like a long season of snowfall.  Blogging is not yet a household word, but many of those who have tasted the freedom are now drunk on its possibility.  When the majority are swimming in the same sea, there will be no option but to swiftly swim to a new shore together.

Sean

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