Social Media: an open-air market located at the intersection of voyeurism and narcissism, where the currency exchanged is cultural in nature and often has no value outside the borders of this odd collection of shops and huts. And for every shopkeeper that is able to create a successful franchise there are hundreds of beggars scraping for handouts.
Yes? No?
Posted on March 11, 2009 in Advertising, Random, Technology. Tagged with definitions, social media.
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Yes.
If I could add to your metaphor: 90% of the conversation in the market is ABOUT the market itself. Most of the stores in the market sell books about the market.
You could say the same about any real/time-real/place conversation between people. Everyone has a personal agenda — monetized or non-monetized, self-serving or philantrophic — it’s just that techno-media seems to think that it’s invented something different. It’s just another form of socialization with better masking techniques for the shy and/or crooked and a requirement for both techo-literacy and the ability to assemble a sentence that actually says what you mean or a photograph that’s worth sharing.
BTW, nice use of your writing skills in your question!
@Chris: Paradoxical.
@Dad: Agree on the agenda point, but the distinct difference here is private sphere vs. public sphere. Why is it more interesting to have a conversation here than simply picking up the phone and calling you?
I don’t know if it’s more interesting… but it is more convenient by allowing responses that are not limited by distractions and focused by virtue of forced listening through a cycle of read, react and write. The fact that it’s in a public forum does make it more interesting for voyeurs and friends but it would be no less interesting outside the borders of this space. But there are too many 3-5 syllable words to work in a simple phone call.
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