What Now? My Role?

3. What role do I see MYSELF playing, possibly even as a content creator?

Once again, I'm not sure. Will I continue to contribute to social networks like Twitter and Facebook? Sure, because I like to think that I'm at least an infinitesimal portion of the conversation. Does that make me a content creator? In a sense, I guess it does. Does it make me an important content creator? Absolutely not. I'm psyched if 20 people read something I post or write. Kevin Rose's tweets are read by 1.1 million people. Not bad for a guy who helped create a website.

I think I get Twitter and how to use it. Does that mean that I use it to my best ability? Probably not. I'm willing and excited to learn how to, which is something I think people need to realize. Some of these apps and services are fairly innovative and original. We're not all going to pick them up instantly with a full understanding on how to use them to maximize our life. Does that learning curve mean that we should just shut them all out and ignore them? I'd like to hope not. Written text was once a foreign, even ridiculous concept. I'm glad that some of the more intelligent people in society decided to take the time to master it and subsequently, teach that mastery to others. People have scoffed at new technologies throughout time. The people who don't are those who end up making a difference. I don't mean to place myself in the latter group, far from it. I'm as much of a follower as anyone else. Twitter was founded in 2006. I joined in late 2008, making me two years late to the party, well past the fashionable limit. But I'd rather be late than not attending.

Who am I looking towards to lead the way? Leo Laporte and friends aren't a bad place to start. Neither are the folks at Revision 3 (there is a great deal of overlap between the two). They present accessible information while also discussing the most cutting edge techs. Most of them were on Twitter, with a solid understanding of what it is and it's potential well before much of the population. Laporte's crew is a huge group of industry insiders, journalists and up and coming developers. The discussions are informative and entertaining, if you're into that type of thing. Many of them have utilized UStream well before people knew what it was. These guys have been and continue to be on the cutting edge of content produced specifically for the 'net. There is no reason to think that they'll stop. While the live broadcasts leave a bit to be desired from a visual standpoint, the content is excellent.