I just read a post from one of my favorite bloggers, Copyblogger ,on just what is and isn’t social media. The basic premise was from another post where the person had declared he was quitting social media, but continuing to blog. So, when is blogging not social media? And, if it is not social media, what is it?
I tend to agree that blogging is social media and I agree it is most likely one of the earliest forms of social media. Before Twitter and Facebook, blogging was already on the radar of most technologically minded individuals. As a form of social media, by allowing linking, comments, and trackbacks, it becomes an interactive forum for ideas. Just as the first printing presses allowed like-minded individuals to share information easily for the first time, blogging has allowed even easier access to the public. I believe blogging is just a natural evolution of social communication.
Before blogging, people responded with letters to the editor or through letters to each other. Blogging has allowed just about anyone with a little knowledge of the technical implications to share information. I began blogging as a corporate writer and recently started my own blog here. I found that newsletters had become too restrictive and the news was usually already out of date. Blogging allows me to address topics quickly and put out information more easily. Where I used to write newsletters and send out letters and memos, I now use blogging and email to connect. Just different vehicles, but the messages are still there in essence.
I believe social media is here to stay, and blogging is definitely a part of it, but it will evolve. I believe sites like Twitter will change as more people find a better purpose for their use. I think the social networking sites, such as Facebook and LinkedIn, will continue in their form for a longer time, but each generation will make their mark. I also believe blogging is here to stay, but we will continue to see more video blogs and more interaction within the community. I welcome the changes. If I have learned anything from the history of computing (and I’ve been around since we had mainframe e-mail systems – basically IM for the early age), it is that each iteration brings us a closer world. And, that is exciting to me.
Oh, and Brian – I do not like Tofu, no matter how you prepare it.
About the writer – Tammy Cook-Matranga is a professional business and technical writer specializing in business to business and business to consumer marketing. Contact her at tammy@tmcook.com
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