Recently, I have written extensively about how Information Professionals are at ground zero of the currently ongoing revolution in computing that we call the onset of the Information Age. There can be no doubt that our world is transitioning, quickly, from the Industrial Age to the Information Age. The signs of a discontinuity are all around us in our economy, education, society, technology, and workplaces. While, we have discussed how the start date is in question, the reality that we are swimming in a whole new sea cannot be debated. Just the acknowledgment that your desktop computer has the storage capacity of every written library on the planet, can surf to anyplace online, and processes data quickly enough to land an entire fleet of Apollo Spaceships on the moon simultaneously while your parents did not exist should convince everyone.
Today, as I tried to explain why Twitter and Facebook were also revolutionary forces in our Information Age, I began to question whether they were actually even part of the same revolution. It occurred to me that maybe the real conundrum is that there might have two separate, but simultaneous revolutions in human affairs happening. I think that the second one is a revolution in social communications. For the first time in history technology has permitted us to interact with anyone, at anytime, asynchronously, in both a point to point, or multicast means. These two tools permit you to know the thoughts of your favorite movie star, mother, priest, and President as they occur, but only at the times that you desire. The revolution is that groups of the willing, focused on any topic can form, interact, and disband without any need for previous coordination, knowledge, or geographic proximity. I believe that these two revolutions are mistakenly grouped together because they happen to be linked to the same tools: computers, smart phones, and the Internet. I think that the technology and what they enable, the communication, are really two different phenomena that are better viewed as separate.
When you view the information and social communication revolutions as unique, it allows you to focus on the differences in them both. Clearly, Information Professionals are the experts needed for coping with the information event, but may not be the right tool for the social media job. Communications, media, public affairs, and marketing professionals would be better suited to that environment. Many online refer to this new expert as a Social Media Consultant. The difference? Social Media Consultants don’t care about the hardware or software involved, but with the content being transmitted and received by them.
The next time that you, as an Information Professional, are called in to address your organization’s response or strategy for creating competitive advantage from the Information Age, evaluate the question or problem statement. Maybe, you are actually being asked about the revolution in social communications. Maybe, you really need to bring in a social media consultant instead.
Do you agree that there are two revolutions underway? Are Information Professionals the ones to deal with both? Please share your ideas with us.
That is my Information Technology Thought of the Day (ITTOD) for May 29, 2009 ©Scott Coughlin .
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The Intersection Of Two Revolutions
Today, as I tried to explain why Twitter and Facebook were also revolutionary forces in our Information Age, I began to question whether they were actually even part of the same revolution. It occurred to me that maybe the real conundrum is that there might have two separate, but simultaneous revolutions in human affairs happening. I think that the second one is a revolution in social communications. For the first time in history technology has permitted us to interact with anyone, at anytime, asynchronously, in both a point to point, or multicast means. These two tools permit you to know the thoughts of your favorite movie star, mother, priest, and President as they occur, but only at the times that you desire. The revolution is that groups of the willing, focused on any topic can form, interact, and disband without any need for previous coordination, knowledge, or geographic proximity. I believe that these two revolutions are mistakenly grouped together because they happen to be linked to the same tools: computers, smart phones, and the Internet. I think that the technology and what they enable, the communication, are really two different phenomena that are better viewed as separate.
When you view the information and social communication revolutions as unique, it allows you to focus on the differences in them both. Clearly, Information Professionals are the experts needed for coping with the information event, but may not be the right tool for the social media job. Communications, media, public affairs, and marketing professionals would be better suited to that environment. Many online refer to this new expert as a Social Media Consultant. The difference? Social Media Consultants don’t care about the hardware or software involved, but with the content being transmitted and received by them.
The next time that you, as an Information Professional, are called in to address your organization’s response or strategy for creating competitive advantage from the Information Age, evaluate the question or problem statement. Maybe, you are actually being asked about the revolution in social communications. Maybe, you really need to bring in a social media consultant instead.
Do you agree that there are two revolutions underway? Are Information Professionals the ones to deal with both? Please share your ideas with us.
That is my Information Technology Thought of the Day (ITTOD) for May 29, 2009 ©Scott Coughlin .
Photo credit
No related posts.
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
This entry was posted by Scott Coughlin on May 29, 2009 at 4:29 am, and is filed under Human Resources, Information Age, News Commentary. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0.You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.