Metpahors for Social Media: Same Stuff, Different Tools
One reason I always find an offline metaphor for an online tool is because...well, because who goes online but people - people who live offline.
We are social creatures. Always have been, always will be. While we crave independence, we find meaning with interdependence (and meandering without it).
In Here Comes Everybody, Clay Shirky writes, "Communication tools don't get socially interesting until they get technologically boring" (pg. 105) I disagree somewhat because for many, it's the connective possibilities that get people to use the tools in the first place.
Albert Einstein (I don't think he has a social media book out yet) said, "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it yet." This may be one reason I don't proclaim to be a social media expert. Of course, this may be the other reason.
I believe that for every online tool, there is an offline metaphor (or six). We'll try to explore that in the upcoming series: Same Stuff, Different Tools or SSDT
Here's what I'd like you to do: Think of tools you use online and the metaphors you use to explain them. Post it on your blog, in a comment here, or on Twitter (or wherever). We'll include them all together and be smarter (and simpler) about them together.
#SSDT
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