It started with Community Memory in 1973
It evolved to Bbs.
Then it became chatrooms, Geocities, Livejournal, Friendster, Myspace...Facebook.
And even though "Social Media" has technically been around for nearly 40 years, we've only just begun to scratch the surface.
As broadband penetration increases, people become more empowered to connect with each other on their own terms.
We don't just share the latest news articles or what we've had for lunch, but also content that truly engages us.
Creativity shines through. We've democratized programming.
It's why there are Youtube celebrities making 6 figures independent of any major studio, and why Television Advertising Rates are dropping (while online advertising is increasing).
Consider now that Google wants to better monetize Youtube, and has invested over $300 million dollars to create and market it's new premium content network.
The network has channels by traditional celebrities like Ashton Kutcher & Tony Hawk, branded channels by the likes of Red Bull & Wwe, and non traditional celebrities like Corridor Digital & Destorm (to name a few)
Youtube's Premium Content Network has been designed to give advertisers a viable alternative to television spending, and in the long term, give the public at large a viable alternative to television all together.
The Premium Content Network's beginnings bear a striking resemblance to Fox Television breaking all of the rules of "The fourth network" in the 80's.
What blows my mind is independent artists like Corridor Digital & Destorm are the front-runners of what could be the next major innovation in the way we consume content.
Even more impressive, they've done it entirely on their own terms. No auditions. No producer funding. Just dedication to their craft, and determination to find the nearly 2 million people who enjoy their efforts.
Now consider most people take streaming video for granted, the same way we take email or Facebook for granted.
Internet Culture is funny that way. What was trending topic a month ago loses it's cool factor almost as quickly as it gained it.
It's not that your tech isn't cool, it's that your user thinks in 140 characters.
Keeping a user's attention needs to have one of the two following things, an intuitive interface (and a reason to use it) or Engaging Content.
Ideally, you'd have both, but people will forgive poor design in exchange something compelling.
Consider "Pinterest" - There's nothing horribly "innovative" about Pinterest - it's a bookmarklet and comment system - but the waterfall layout, and infinite scrolling was apparently what's been missing in the online photo space.
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