I realize I am not the brightest bulb in the closet nor the sharpest blade in the drawer but something occurred to me the other day and I wanted to share it with you...
It's something that should have occurred a long time ago but, hey, like I said... I'm no Al Einstein.
This is, unfortunately not the first time something has taken a long time to register at my personal front desk, as it were...
Growing up I used to hear all the time how my (next) oldest brother Greg - because his birthday fell on December 27th, had to "wait a whole year for his gifts." My mother would pound it into my head how "unfair it was that your brother has to wait a whole year for his birthday." My brother, in turn, would receive more gifts on his birthday than I would because, you know... he had to wait so long.
And truth be told for the first 10-11 years of my life, I felt sorry for my brother, with the waiting and all...you know, the waiting is the hardest part.
But somewhere in my 12th or 13th year on God's green earth, it hit me...
Wait a second... EVERYONE has to wait a whole year for their birthday! What a crock of BULLS%%IT! I immediately filed an official protest to receive retroactive presents which I felt were rightfully mine but to no avail.
As you can see, I have a history of being a little late to some parties.
My most recent tardiness comes in the form of social media. It struck me the other day, haven't we ALWAYS been social and doesn't imply some form of communication?
I know, I know... no SH%T Steve...
But look at this from a very literal standpoint... the definitions of the words themselves:
[soh-shuhl] -adjective
1.pertaining to, devoted to, or characterized by friendly companionship or relations: a social club
2. seeking or enjoying the companionship of others;
[mee-dee-uh] -noun
1. one of the means or channels of general communication, information
Read those definitions and tell me that we have not always been social media creatures?
Of course we have!
The difference of course is nowadays we have so many more platforms and applications at the ready to allow us to "seek or enjoy the companionship of others" via "communication channels and means."
Instead of pounding our clubs three times on the ceiling like the cavemen did, we Tweet.
Instead of sending a telegraph, we text.
Instead of sitting down and writing a letter, by hand - we send an email.
We have been socially communicating with each other... forever.
According to Wikipedia, there have been three Information Communication Revolutions:
In the 1st Information Communication Revolution, the first written communication began, with pictographs. These writings were made on stone, which were too heavy to transfer. During this era, written communication was not mobile, but nonetheless existed.
In the 2nd Information Communication Revolution, writing began to appear on paper, papyrus, clay, wax, etc. Common alphabets were introduced, allowing the uniformity of language across large distances. Much later the Gutenberg printing-press was invented. Gutenberg created this printing-press after a long period of time in the 15th century.
In the 3rd Information Communication Revolution, information can now be transferred via controlled waves and electronic signals.
Yeah, 3 times must have been the charm for social media as know it today. But a part of me would love to try one of them pictographs... I can draw a stick figure like nobody's business.
But I digress...
Now be honest with me... did you know we were all social media folks from way back or did you think this whole phenomenon that is social media today is something that just started a few years ago?