Do you ever take a step back from your daily technology use and wonder how the hell the world existed without it?
Like when I was in the thick of writing my thesis, I thought a lot about how the same process was done 50 years ago:
When my Google Scholar was the Dewey Decimal System.
When my online periodicals were hours in the library stacks.
When my laptop was a loud typewriter, and my delete key bottles and bottles of whiteout.
Or how there was a time when you would go skiing with a group and NOT have cell phones for when you would (inevitably) break away from the group and get lost among a gortex-clad mob?
So here I am today, singing the praises of Twitter, marveled yet again by its sheer awesomeness.
Because today, I took a new step in my quest to understand it.
Tweetchat.
An entire, hour-long online conversation with some of the best and brightest in public relations. Tips, wisdom and advice from the pros. And I didn't even have to change out of my PJs!
If I were emerging into a cold Twitter pool, I would be waist deep by this point.
The idea that I could be involved in a conversation such as this blows my mind.
And here's why:
1. These are people I would NEVER EVER normally meet. A lot of them live in DC or NY. Some are in FL. Some are abroad. All had valuable insight. None are ordering a latte at my local coffee shop or working out at my gym or commuting on the train--traditional networking places.
2. These are people who are pretty accomplished in their field, at least from what I can gather on their websites and profiles. CEOs, public relations executives, recruiters, and successful job searchers. Again, people I would NEVER EVER have the opportunity to speak to, despite my best efforts.
Harnessing the wisdom of people who have been where I am now can only help me in my job quest. I'm excited to get up the nerve to contribute something of my own to the next conversation.
Why not? I don't even have to get off the couch.
Whats even more interesting is how fast the Western world is advancing with technology yet the third world is just starting. For example, schools in the Solomons barely have enough paper and pencils for their students but currently mobile phone towers are going up. Internet is spreading and more satellite towers are going up in rural areas so they can get on the grid. They are excited for this new craze of technology but when one can barely write it makes typing and email a completely new world that they are all jumping into.
ReplyDeleteMobile companies are coming and setting up towers and facilities, everyone now has to have a mobile after centuries of not having them. Families who can barely afford rice to eat are choosing to buy a mobile instead. I guess they will just have to buckle up and hold on to fast forward to present status of technology in the world.