Sunday, November 18, 2012

Social Media Revolution 2012 [Will Not Be Televised]

Poet Gil Scott-Heron wrote, "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised". A poem that defined a movement and summed up a generation. It's not often this occurrence happens that someone is able to define a time so accurately with a series of thoughts. Gil saw what others could not because his thoughts on what a revolution would not be was accurate in so many ways.

What he didn't know then [and what we know now] is that The Revolution is actually happening on second screen devices and social media platforms.

In 2012, there have been over 5 major political revolutions [the year is not over yet] and social media platforms have played an instrumental part in their genesis [and those revolutions were televised].

In the past, revolutions were slow and predictable. Now, you can go to sleep for 8 hours and wake up to a totally different political environment or technological shift.

The social media revolution is here but do most people understand what that really means? In today's climate, if you asked 10 people, "What does the social media revolution mean to you?" they would give you 10 different answers [no surprise there].

We may not understand yet how social media is affecting us but we do know that what has happened in the last decade is profound and we are experiencing a significant technological moment in the development of our global society. There is no doubt that the birth of social media is revolutionary and will have a lasting effect on humanity from this point on.

  

4 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thank you for the kind words, means a lot to hear positive feedback.

      I'm honored... ;-)

      Delete
  2. Saneesh,

    Thank you for the kind words, this piece is more applicable now than when I wrote it.

    ReplyDelete