Informed my mother this morning I was struggling for what to write in my blog today - a worry as it's only Day 3 but I'm sure I'll continue to find inspiration. Her eyes glaze over and she looks at me like I'm some kind of bizarre Star Wars loving, Buffy addicted, science fiction freak who has finally lost the plot and become a complete cyper recluse. Ok, so the majority is not that far off the mark but it did make me think about attitude towards "digital specialists" througout business and the reputation they are still yet to shake off.
For years, there has been a small but select group of people around me who know and love the brave new world online. They were the early adopters of social networking, all things gaming, Web 2.0...you name it, they've a buzzword for it. Throughout that time my naturally slightly mathemetical and scientific brain has meant my interest was more than a little piqued, hence my current career. It's been great, picking up bits of information, learning the words, sounding intelligent and foxing everyone else around me while deploring how little the rest of the world understands and how we'll always be in the minority. I'm not entirely sure we ever thought what would happen if everyone else did catch up or if our egos could handle it. Best bet was to keep learning away and talk in a slightly different language that no-one else could really understand and then they might just go away.
Fact is, they didn't and we don't - talk in a different language that is. More worrying than the maternal disappointment is the sheer fact that a retired English teacher who obsesses over Shakespeare is not only fully aware of what a "blog" is but has formed an opinion about those who maintain them. It was only a few months ago I was convincing the family in general that I didn't know how to fix the printer even though "yes, I do work with computers...".
So is that ok? How do the digital brethren (I might not have an I-Pod but digital's in my job title) feel about no longer holding all the knowledge now the geeks have inherited the Google Earth but everyone else has got in on the action too?
Personally, I believe, the world will always need the geek...sorry the "digital specialist" because the opportunites and possibilities are truly endless and without the obsessives finding their way we'll simply be lost in space. So I'm happy that everyone else is coming along because it's about time but I'll still be listening to my early adopters, my geeks, my obsessives because there's a bloody long way to go yet...
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3 comments:
There are always people with more knowledge, and always those with less.
The trick is to learn from the more, and teach the less, and you end up with a load of people who can all add value to your life!
And personally, I try and avoid 90% of buzzwords for that very reason...most of them seem to be a way of making everything sound superior to what it actually is, as if it's a way of getting back at the jocks and cool kids who bullied the geeks years ago...
(And what's bizarre about loving Star Wars and Buffy)
The good thing is as a marketer, there are a shedload of great blogs and resources out there for ya...have a look at www.sethgodin.com
I am loving your stuff - so please let's keep hearing your voice.
Bit of inspiration:
http://www.commoncraft.com/blogs
I have to agree with Dan... there's nothing wrong with Star Wars. But Buffy...
Great blog.
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