As I dive deeper and deeper into the developing industry of social media….I can’t help but classify the typical social media poweruser.
Sure the majority of the global population now has in some way become involved with social media (mindblowing numbers thrown around on the web in 2010), but when I saw power users, I consider that those addicted to checking multiple times in a day….
I do consider myself a bit of a power user….love using twitter throughout my day, checking facebook a couple times (personally not as much activity on facebook as twitter, and too limited in its uses, harder to meet new people)
The idea that social media is a bunch of nerds spawned after reading couchsurfingori Ori’s couchsurfing blog on re-living the prom again and having a couchsurfingori.com/blog/prom-again social media prom, where social media users can unite and find their dates via social media and prepare for the prom via social media….pretty cool idea!!!!
Maybe because social media is still in its early stage….and therefore the rules and daily lifestyle tactics have not been implemented – therefore we have the EARLY ADOPTERS still mostly utilizing the tools, and signing up for the newest tools first, sharing photos, location sharing, group buying.
It does take an early adapter maybe to jump into uncharted waters…as we have seen certain platforms already “join the deadpool” and all that user content is lost….so you have to have the stomach and patience to go through various new systems and tools, continuous updates and changes and new platforms, mergers, etc.
And maybe its also nerds utilizing these tools because you need to have some technical experience still…sure, blogging is getting easier and easier, don’t need to know HTML or programming to really do it after the blog is installed, but even I , who sees myself as a middle to high experience internet user, have to spend time researching how to implement certain things on my blog, or new tools….especially with mobile internet….constantly crashing my android phone, resetting, uninstalling, upgrading…..
Also I have met other twitter power users, in various twitter meetups hong kong and manila philippines meetup and yes, we all push and fight our friends to sign up and interact…but really, I see the common user of twitter as a creative, open minded, early adapter and connector. WHICH IS REALLY COOL. This means, I want to know and network with as many of them as possible. We are always staring down at our mobile phones when we’re out, checking in on foursquare, @ replying on twitter, status updates on facebook….tottally wired.
Yet I see Facebook “powerusers” as the less techy, less creative…as its more “plug and play” and WYSISYG (what you see if what you get) and more “Closed environment”
But its kind of funny, the nerds have taken over after the high school gossip and drama.
Comments
happy new year, Mike!
Thanks Nigel,
happy new year to you too! “solar” new year!
Perhaps nerds are just taking over the world… or perhaps as technology has gotten smaller and prettier (thanks Apple… though I still prefer PC’s), perhaps the nerds just have a head start with computers and all that. so we’re more comfortable with them now. I’ve always considered myself a nerd, but at the same time I run, I party like a frigging rockstar (and have the stitches to prove it), I don’t look like a nerd… So, maybe those of us who call ourselves nerds were once nerdy (antisocial? insecure? unfashionable?), and just cling to that.
The funny thing is that I’m living life. I’ve run into some of the people who were popular in high school, and now they’re fat, married, miserable, and not doing anything more than raising a family (Which is fine… but I also know families that travel the world together). It seems the tables have turned.
Perhaps we nerds just spent more time dreaming, so have more dreams to fulfill – travel, creating, adventures, and an ongoing quest to bash our comfort zones some more 🙂
Krystyl, whose event it was, has a company called “Events for nerds.” When I interviewed her, she told me that she didn’t think she was going to get a big following– many people were traumatized by their original prom. No date, bad date, etc…. but it’s like you wrote in your about section– some of us get to a point where we don’t care what others think.
Is Social Media dominated by nerds? Probably… but there’s a lot of good looking, fascinating nerds out there with incredible stories, that are just paving the technology road for the rest of the world… and it’s catching on.
Thanks for the comment Ori!
Yes, we all knew that the popular kids in school were gonna end up with boring lives later, haha, its what they show in the movies right 🙂
Thats cool what Krystyl did, yes, i think its refreshing for people to relive those high school experiences….high school really is such….a complex environment…..if we had known what we knew now when we were in high school, I’m sure we would have had a lot more fun!
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