So, if you follow me on twitter, you'd probably know that I attended Vancouver's own Social Media/Blogging/Communications UN-conference, Northern Voice. It didn't really occur to me to bring my laptop for some reason, so I didn't get around to updating much during the course of the day.
Yupp. I was hanging out with this little moose-guy right here. Anyone else wonder why he had hands, but no feet. Just me? Alright then.
Anyways, I won't get into an indepth recap. There are plenty of other much-better blogs than this one that could give you the run-down. I want to talk about someting else that I noticed.
Looking around the room, I noticed something interesting. Who was there? Tech enthusiasts, communications people, and coders. There was business owners, and mac users galore. People with expensive cameras, and iphones. What I didn't see alot of, was me.
What I mean is, I don't have a macbook, or an iPhone. I don't know anything about computers, and if you're a regular reader, it's obvious I don't know much about blogging either. Sheesh, back in September/October I didn't even have a computer to blog off of. I had to walk up to a local internet cafe to use the internet. This whole idea of Social Media is really truly a hobby for me. I'm not looking to expand my business, I'm not looking to make anything other than new friends. As cheesy as that may sound.
So I got to thinking about how Social Media isn't free.Think about it, what do you need to blog? Well, a computer for starters. An internet connection. Time. Money, depending how serious you are about it. More time. Dedication.
What do you need if you want to take yourself further into the space? If you want to podcast, you'll need a cam-corder, proper audio recorders, lights, space, editing software, time and patience. If you want to stay up to date with your tweet stream, your going to need a wifi enabled mobile device. Not cheap, my friends.
There's only so far FREE will take you on the web. That's the difference to between simply participating and being an active member of the community. At this point, I don't sit behind a desk all day, I don't have the internet in my pocket and I can't afford too.
So this is my argument. If you want to be active in social media, to the point where you are doing MORE than simply participating, it's not accessible to everyone. I'm offended whenthese socialmedia/tech enthusiasts think that this is free, easy and accessible for everyone. You know what? It's not. This is something I have always secretly believed, but haven't really discussed until now.
I mean, if it was truly free and accessible to all, why aren't we seeing more blogs written by joe-blows like me. People that don't have computer access at all times. Waiters, bus drivers, mail carriers, massage-therapy receptionists! I know I'd like to read those.
This is all exclusively based on personal experience, having not done any research at all. Who knows, I could be the only one who is noticing the hypocrisy, as it were. But I'd like to hear thoughts. Has a lack of time/money ever prevented you from being as engaged as you would've liked? What did you do about it?
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5 comments:
I think many of these conferences have a tendency to focus on the needs of commercial entities that are looking to establish/expand their presence online, or individuals for whom blogging and 'social media' are a tool for establishing some kind of personal brand (and, let's be honest, making money in the process)
Which is far from what we're praising blogging for. You are right, it's definitely not free by any stretch of the imagination, but stories are told about people blogging from homeless shelters, public libraries or school computers. But the exceptions, the saying goes, only serve to strengthen the rule (or something).
Compared to some years back, blogging and online presence is far cheaper, though, both financially and in terms of the knowledge you need to posses to get something going. Not free, yet, but getting there.
And then we can go and think about this at a global level. We, the ones with a computer, a cellphone, health insurance and time to attend conferences, part of the privileged 10% (probably less) of the world—we get it. But the rest? Some of those people are probably more deserving of a voice than some of us, yet for them this whole thing is far, far away.
I agree with you. We all know that blogging isn't free, but when we attend these conferences and so forth, that whole idea tends to be forgotten.
It's not so much that I'd like to see even MY social class better represented at these events, I guess I'd just like a little more acknowledgment that bloggers like me are out there, and even that there are plenty of individuals with stories and ideas that simply don't have the means to blog.
We all tend to have this sort of attitude that social media is so great because everyone can share and participate. Well, not really. I think it's important to think about that.
Er, this was an un-conference after all. Maybe I should have scheduled my own talk. Perhaps next year. :)
Thanks for the comment!
I whole-heartily agree with you! It's very hard to be apart of social media when you can't afford a lot of things.
The more and more I'm on twitter the more I want to take pictures and publish videos but I don't have cash for many of the things I need. It's upsetting because I'm in such a terrible bind right now but eventually I'm hoping that I can break through!
Good Luck on your quest, love! :)
I hope somebody can correct me if I'm wrong. I notice that many of these well-knowns in social media fall into one of two places. Some have well-paying jobs and yet have the time and energy to do social media. Others got a lucky break in the beginning and now have sponsors that give them discounts or freebies/review models. Also, there are some that make their living off doing the social media route, but they're probably an offshoot of the second example.
You're definitely right in your observation, though. Even having the second latest and greatest for your system is still a tall order when you have other needs and bills and such. I have a iMac G5 that's still doing great, but now that the Intel Macs have been in full swing, I'm almost hesitant on getting the new iLife suite because of the system requirements! And the computer's not really that old! (I love making vids, and I want the new iMovie:( )
Yes, it would be great if everyone and their mother had a written blog or a video blog or even their own domain and server space. Inaequitas is right; it's coming soon where everyone will be able to do the stuff that's being shown today. Maybe a few years from now. But by then, social media 3.0 will be the elitist benchmark. :/
You are completely right. Not only is social media, for the most part, pretty expensive to keep up with (so it is not free as in "free beer"), but the communications going on through most of the networks aren't free either (not free as in "free speech"). On both Facebook and MySpace we are served targeted ads and "suggestions" as to which friends we should communicate with.
E-mail, phone and IRC are for the most part free mediums of communication whereas social media is not.
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