The evolving everyday-ness of everyday - 8 Nov 2010

The internet is evolving faster than you think, but don't be disconcerted - this makes it even easier to jump onto the bandwagon because nothing is static for too long - what's new now might be old news soon. After recently discovering the wonders of the Twitterverse, I now appreciate being updated throughout the day with what's going on beyond my laptop. While social media can be a curse to celebrities, sport personalities and politicians who forget the power of the medium, it means you live in the 'here and now' rather than when the prime time news is aired.

You no longer have to be at a conference to know exactly what the keynote speaker is divulging or the colour of his shirt. This I discovered after searching #gathering on Twitter last week (hashtag used for The Gathering - a conference hosted by SA's The Daily Maverick) and following in-the-moment happenings as they unfolded as attendees were tweeting at high frequency - so much so that #gathering at one point trended #4 worldwide.

I managed to catch The Social Network this past weekend - the movie based on the book about Facebook, The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich. It's a good, gripping movie that gives you some background on the origins of the most popular social networking platform in the world. Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder of Facebook, is not portrayed in the best of lights - the film portrays him as stealing the concept of Facebook from other students and betraying his best friend. After watching it, I find using Facebook is a slightly different experience; but no less addictive.

If you're reading this, you're already part of an online community so I'm not going to preach to the choir; but if you know any idle bystanders, I suggest you advise them to get onto the bandwagon - there's a whole new social experience available online that is changing the way the everyday-ness of everyday works.