Want to know what’s up in a day in the life of our Digital Nation? You won’t have to look far. In between sharing photos on Facebook, updating one’s MySpace page, checking out the scene on Flickr and Bebo then adding a few social bookmarks through Del.icio.us., posting what they’re doing on their LiveJournal blog and/or sending out a handful of text messages, watching the day’s most popular YouTube vids as they add to their favorite wiki or see who they can IM at the
moment---today’s Digital Nation is microblogging.
As just about everyone ages 13 to 25 knows, microblogs are ultra short blogs, usually a line or two, in which people share about...well, just about anything. The sharing can be within private networks or public, and can be text or multimedia. Take for example Twitter, likely the largest microblogging service on the Net today. According the site’s FAQs, it’s “a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?” People post in 140 characters or less. In May Twitter claimed more than 1.2 million unique members and I’m sure that total has only risen with all their recent media ink. Other popular microblogging sites are Jaiku (recently bought by Google), Identi.ca, Pownce, Plurk, Spoink, Tumblr, and the newest kid on the block, Posterous. Add to that the mega social networking sites Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn, all which have added microblogging features to their menu recently.
Even some of my friends and colleagues are part of this trend offering what could be considered microblogs---for example, there’s the conversation site from the market research outlet BuzzSponge, BuzzSponge.com, and religious trade publisher Loyola Press has its spiritually-based Other6.com. Strictly speaking, neither of these two sites are microblog services with regular daily posters---although I’m sure both sponsors would welcome daily postings. What they do offer the public is a chance to post a few lines of inspiration, questions, or daily musings---and then allow for comments & conversation.
So what’s the appeal? As a recent Newsweek article (8/7/08) puts it, the microblog has caught on because it “marries the mass appeal of blogging with the rat-a-tat-tat of text messaging.” Is this yet another sign of our ever-decreasing attention span? Or is it a sign that most of today’s digital content doesn’t warrant the 3-4 paragraphs of the traditional blog? My take: it's proof once again the Citizens of the Digital Nation just want to feel connected. A second of inspiration or a new perspective shared… and that’s enough. Like a gulp of an energy drink---they are not looking for a full meal; they just want a taste.
Communicate and connect. Communicate and connect. In the today’s Digital Nation, what you communicate is not as important as having communicated and feeling connected.
moment---today’s Digital Nation is microblogging.
As just about everyone ages 13 to 25 knows, microblogs are ultra short blogs, usually a line or two, in which people share about...well, just about anything. The sharing can be within private networks or public, and can be text or multimedia. Take for example Twitter, likely the largest microblogging service on the Net today. According the site’s FAQs, it’s “a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?” People post in 140 characters or less. In May Twitter claimed more than 1.2 million unique members and I’m sure that total has only risen with all their recent media ink. Other popular microblogging sites are Jaiku (recently bought by Google), Identi.ca, Pownce, Plurk, Spoink, Tumblr, and the newest kid on the block, Posterous. Add to that the mega social networking sites Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn, all which have added microblogging features to their menu recently.
Even some of my friends and colleagues are part of this trend offering what could be considered microblogs---for example, there’s the conversation site from the market research outlet BuzzSponge, BuzzSponge.com, and religious trade publisher Loyola Press has its spiritually-based Other6.com. Strictly speaking, neither of these two sites are microblog services with regular daily posters---although I’m sure both sponsors would welcome daily postings. What they do offer the public is a chance to post a few lines of inspiration, questions, or daily musings---and then allow for comments & conversation.
So what’s the appeal? As a recent Newsweek article (8/7/08) puts it, the microblog has caught on because it “marries the mass appeal of blogging with the rat-a-tat-tat of text messaging.” Is this yet another sign of our ever-decreasing attention span? Or is it a sign that most of today’s digital content doesn’t warrant the 3-4 paragraphs of the traditional blog? My take: it's proof once again the Citizens of the Digital Nation just want to feel connected. A second of inspiration or a new perspective shared… and that’s enough. Like a gulp of an energy drink---they are not looking for a full meal; they just want a taste.
Communicate and connect. Communicate and connect. In the today’s Digital Nation, what you communicate is not as important as having communicated and feeling connected.
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