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OK….this one’s a little “stream of consciousness….” Bear with me.

I find the virtual world we live in compelling.

Not because I have a virtual Library of Congress at my fingertips, and not because I can find 50 different recipes for coq au vin. Not because I can easily find others that share my affection for Aprilia sportbikes, and not because I can buy virtually anything I can even imagine online….including a kidney.

It’s compelling because it gives us a glimpse of what’s possible. It connects us to people thinking and doing amazing things, and occasionally it gives me hope that I might accomplish something amazing, too. Not amazing in the sense that someone else would ooo and aah, but amazing in the sense that I could never have imagined it possible.camera

My mother was a talented television broadcaster for many years. (She’s still a talented mom!) I used to accompany her to “the station”, and sat in the director’s booth mesmerized by all that had to happen to get a broadcast to the masses. These people were geniuses, and their expertise seemed inaccessible to me.

Just this week., after listening to some really smart guys I work with dream a little, I decided to create an online live broadcasting site.

It took me less than an hour.

Don’t get me wrong…..content is still king, and my ability to broadcast something doesn’t make me compelling enough to garner an audience. Still, think about it….think about the aspiring filmmaker in Cameroon, or the political theorist in Tajikistan. These folks would never have had the opportunity to share their thoughts with the masses, and now they do.

I think it’s pretty cool. You?

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About a year and a half ago I engaged in a discussion on this topic. Things have accelerated since then, but I thought I would post what I wrote. In recent months, my email box hasn’t been any emptier, it’s just become much less relevant to me. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this…

3/31/08

E-mailI don’t really believe we need to ask the question “is email dying?” I think it’s already dead as we knew it, and we just haven’t unplugged the life support yet.

Can email be a part of an integrated digital communication world? Perhaps. But the fact that many businesses seem to depend on it now really has no bearing on its future. As has been suggested, I remember hearing people tell me that email won’t have any impact on snail mail because people still like to put pen to paper. Yet here we are, and I doubt any of us has written a real letter of late. (I am guessing that older people were also inclined to dismiss the ball point pen, because people were familiar with hearing the scratch of the nib on paper…)

The clue in where this is going lies in the lives of today’s “digital natives”. Most of the faces I see fighting for email look like mine (though you all are much better looking!)…30’s, 40’s 50’s and up. This world is going to be ruled by our digitally native kids, and they are a generation that WILL NOT be told how to communicate….believe me. You try getting a hold of these students via email and Rip van Winkie will have slept twice before you get a response.

What do you think?

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You know, when you’re my age, you hear a lot of people complaining about where culture is going. You’ve heard it. “We’ve become far too impersonal.” “Kids are texting all the time….they have no time for “real” relationships.” “All this technology is fine, but people need time face to face to REALLY connect!”

It’s funny….I may have agreed with those comments a few years ago, but I think people’s need for connection has changed my mind on this. They have figured out how to use technology to develop real community. Let me give you an anecdote that illustrates my point.

In 2001, my then 64 year-old mother contracted ARDS. (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome) This disease kills 50% of those who contract it within 24 hours of onset. Yikes! It all started with some chest congestion, and before she knew it, she was on life support in an induced coma for 16 days. Gratefully, she has had a full recovery, but it was touch-and-go for several days.

Towards the end of her days in a coma, my father received a phone call in the middle of the night. My dad answered.

“Hello?”

“Hello. Who’s this?” the man on the other end of the phone said.

“Excuse me, who’s this?”

“Is Marcia there?”

“I am her husband. Who IS this?”

[Long pause.]

“My name is Anwar (not his real name), and I live in Cairo, Egypt. For the last couple of years, I have played bridge with your wife online almost every day. I have not seen her for over 2 weeks, and I want to know what is wrong?”

Wow. Remember, my mother was not a teenager, she was 64 years old. And this was in 2001 – 8 years ago!! Many of her friends in close proximity had no idea she was ill, but here was a guy 10,000 miles away who was acutely aware of her absence.

Online community is real. Those of us over the age of 30 may not like it, and we may not understand it, but our kids will not be told how to communicate. If this is how the next generation is going to connect, I think it’s high time we drop our pre-conceived notions and get on board. They still need a few gray hairs in their lives!!