YOU-ser Generated Content
By now, you’ve probably seen Time Magazine’s Person of the Year is all of us who contribute content into the web. Whether it’s to Flicker, Blogs, YouTube, Digg, or one of many other Web 2.0 site, we’re the ones doing all the work. And the content collection has made a few billionaires and even more millions of those that setup these new social systems.
I think back on how my use of computers has changed. My computer used to open with a flashing cursor. I had to insert disks to load programs just to “begin” to create something — mostly word processed documents or spreadsheets. Now I turn on my computer to connect to the web. To read or experience what others are creating. If the web isn’t there, my computer is less valuable to me.
Today my computer is a communications hub. I post to my blog and read others. Create podcasts and update my podcast subscriptions. IM an associate sitting as his/her desk in another city. Check on email — although I do more and more of this on my phone. Google for items. I even join conference calls through Skype.
I like the computer of today much than yesterday (and that’s not just because it a 5lb sleek aluminum Apple laptop). I like to be both a publisher/creator and a consumer of content. Networking with others has made my computer far more valuable.