Trying to stay on top of technology is no easy task. Fortunately it is one that I love. Especially when I get to learn about new and intriguing technology that ultimately impacts us users. And then I get to try and explain it ;-) but for me that's the fun part.
Take lifestreaming for instance...
I just read an excellent column by Paul Gillin in BtoB who recently joined the Posterous parade and subscribed to Google Sidewiki. You've got to love a columnist who's second sentence out of the gate is "These technologies are going to mess you up."
Here's what he had to say:
"Posterous is one of the emerging class of so-called lifestreaming tools (Ping.fm is another) that magnify the voice of individuals by syndicating their comments through multiple online outlets. With Posterous, my messages automatically ripple out to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, my blog and even video- and photo-sharing sites. Post to Posterous and be published everywhere.
Sidewiki is, potentially, even more disruptive. Google describes it as a way to “contribute helpful information to any Web page,” but it is really an invitation for customers to take over your site. A feature of the latest version of the Google toolbar, Sidewiki enables anyone to share commentary about any Web page. With a single click, visitors can see other people's opinions in an adjacent sidebar.
Services such as Posterous, Sidewiki and Google's new Wave platform are taking the commercial Internet to a new level. The first 15 years of the Web were all about sites: Information had a virtual home, and it was up to the visitor to find it. That scenario is about as efficient as requiring friends to come into your living room to hear your movie review.
The next evolution of the Web will take us beyond the site to a metaphor based upon content. Twitter began the journey three years ago with a service that casts messages into cyberspace to be caught wherever readers choose to catch them. Twitter has a Web site, but the majority of its active members send and receive tweets through third-party readers. Nearly every social platform will offer this kind of integration in short order.
These trends will disrupt traditional concepts of influence. Individual opinions will increasingly be magnified and syndicated through channels that can't easily be evaluated by monitoring comments, trackbacks and Technorati rankings. Marketing messages will be less important than the audience's validation of those messages. The winners will be the companies that do the best job of enticing constituents to do the talking for them." Fantastic!
Read more articles by Paul Gillin, a consultant who specializes in community journalism and social media, on his website, http://www.gillin.com
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