Social Networking

The web is filled with sites explaining why your business needs to have an online presence. I think by now everyone has figured out that the web is a wonderful, powerful advertising medium. It’s the marketplace of the world and if you own a business or provide a service and you’re not online you are already behind the curve. So, there.

But, what if you don’t own a business? Is the web only for business marketing? If you’re not selling something (or by extension, buying something) is there no place on the web for you? Well, we already know the web is unmatched as a research tool. Though the sum of mankind’s knowledge may not be available online (yet), I think it is safe to say there is at least some kind of information on just about anything you’d care to know. So, if you have some special knowledge to impart to the world you should definitely be online.

So? Is that it? No room for the everyman to participate other than as a buyer of goods and services? Take heart, because there is change in the air. A new Internet paradigm is forming, something people are calling Web 2.0. There is a lot of discussion about new business models, new ways to advertise, new application platforms, etc., but the most important part is often overlooked. Web 2.0 almost unwittingly describes a new social phenomenon in which an older, wiser Internet community begins to change the nature of the web to conform to the needs of a distributed community.

We used to talk about how increasing use of technology would gradually alienate people from each other. We would spend more and more time online and less time actually interacting with other people. Instead, what we are seeing is increased use of technology increases the amount of interaction with other people. IM, VOIP, chat rooms, blogs, forums, and the list goes on. All new, interactive forms of communication made possible by the Internet that are creating communication pathways only dreamed of before. It’s common these days for teens and young adults to have conversations on a regular basis with people from all over the world.

Most Web 2.0 discussions tend to revolve around the changing Internet infrastructure, open source, network application platforms, data ownership and the like. By focusing on the effect they are missing the point; the real revolution on the Internet has little to do with the infrastructure or the technologyit has to do with the people. The new web is a social phenomenon, not a technical one. The Internet is becoming part of the fabric of our society and as such people are changing it and adapting to it in new and unpredictable ways.

So, why should an average person with nothing to sell and no particular drum to beat be on the Internet? Because that’s where the rest of society will be. Personal websites will be more commonplace than telephones; they’re incredibly inexpensive and easy to build, and most people will have more than one. They will have family sites to share pictures and stories with family and friends, personal blogs to maintain a dialogue with friends and strangers alike on the events of their community and the events of the world. Garage sales, wedding announcements, graduations, births, parties, resumes, recipes, pictures, videos, etc. all on your website(s).

As the world shrinks and people from different cultures and backgrounds are thrust together, as families spread out and friends move away, the Internet provides the means to create new connections and to maintain old ones. As people begin to weave it into their culture it will become an invisible, seldom thought of force connecting people across the planet.

Join the new global community and build a website.

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