Bernaisesource

I attended a meeting of the Social Media Club on Tuesday evening in San Francisco while in town for work.  In addition to checking out the scene,  I was there to discuss how I can help set up a meeting space for the Atlanta chapter that Chris Heuer and Kristie Wells are starting.

Jimmy Wales, the founder of wikia and wikipedia, was on hand and shared choice words about wikipedia’s social media philosophy and the virtues of German and English humor.  I met some fellow bloggers including Tom Foremski,  Christopher Carfi and the peppery Jeremy Pepper.

Yes, I am a believer in social media’s transformative power.  It was gratifying to witness a community of bloggers in one place discussing how to spread the power of social media and transform virtual connections into real life encounters.  

For the uninitiated, the social media club  is about developing a vocabulary for social media and building human interaction.  In this particular session, attendees discussed what are the most powerful possibilities we can imagine for social media in the year ahead and what do we want to do together to make that happen?

I was impressed by the level of knowledge on display because as I talk with friends, colleagues and strangers it is surprising to discover how few people use or consider tapping into social media’s rich vein.  Even professionals 10 to 15 years my junior confess no more than a passing interest in applying it to their work experience.  They acknowledge its growing importance but fail to recognize its potential for them.  They can’t seem to reach escape velocity  and overcome inertia.

For me, web 2.0 is not a lifestyle choice. Cognitively, I am an Internet immigrant, having embraced the Internet at the ripe old age of 30.  I don’t do social media for fun.  My social media forays are intended to enhance EarthLink’s communications efforts and foster my professional development.  But candidly, I do find mastering social media an intellectual challenge as I reorient toward its new way of communicating.

It is hard to make the switch. My generation doesn’t have the time or inclination to inhabit this space. Unlike teens and twenty-somethings, my peers and I are not flocking to mySpace.  Without a community of friends, it can get pretty lonely out there. 

I applaud the efforts of the social media club as they try to build a network and achieve a public good and private profit from social media.

The challenge we all face is moving the discussion from like minded early adopters into the mainstream.  As Jeremy Pepper asked, how do you make it play in Middle America?  Or more pointedly, what role can we play to make that happen?

Maybe it is a matter of younger folks putting pressure on older folks as they enter the job market. Perhaps we need to make it easier to use the technology.  Or based on personal experience, perhaps we need to be “paying it forward -- ”  based on a movie of the same name.  Back in the spring of last year, Steve Astle, who was then at my agency of record, suggested I blog.  It had never occurred to me, but suddenly something kicked into place.  It was transformative.

And now I have taken on Steve’s role, becoming blogging’s cheerleader and encouraging others to do the same.  Whether it’s through employee orientations at work or discussions over lunch with friends looking to advance their career (but unsure how), I put forth blogging’s possibility.  I offer up examples and ways to differentiate themselves.   Sometimes, but not always, you see the same moment of recognition that I experienced with Steve.  Eyes widen, and mouths open – another blogger is born.  It’s possible to start the wave, but perhaps it has to be one individual at a time. 

Let me get back to you.

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