Comments on: Why Social Media Is Like The Telephone Circa 1915 http://blog.bradrourke.com/2009/05/22/why-social-media-is-like-the-telephone-in-1915/ Thoughts for leaders where new media meets public life. Fri, 03 Feb 2012 08:27:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Dealing with the downside… and up « John Creighton on Community Life and Public Leadership http://blog.bradrourke.com/2009/05/22/why-social-media-is-like-the-telephone-in-1915/comment-page-1/#comment-200 Dealing with the downside… and up « John Creighton on Community Life and Public Leadership Sat, 05 Jun 2010 11:59:03 +0000 http://blog.bradrourke.com/?p=957#comment-200 [...] is good or bad.  This phenomenon has been going on since the dawn of civilization.  My colleague Brad Rourke featured a book on his blog called America Calling: A Social History Of The Telephone To 1940 by Claude S. Fischer.  Mr. [...] [...] is good or bad.  This phenomenon has been going on since the dawn of civilization.  My colleague Brad Rourke featured a book on his blog called America Calling: A Social History Of The Telephone To 1940 by Claude S. Fischer.  Mr. [...]

]]> By: Will Reichard http://blog.bradrourke.com/2009/05/22/why-social-media-is-like-the-telephone-in-1915/comment-page-1/#comment-199 Will Reichard Mon, 19 Apr 2010 14:07:27 +0000 http://blog.bradrourke.com/?p=957#comment-199 I am about halfway through the "History of the Telephone" (1915; http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/819) which touched on some of the issues. At the same time, I knew it was going to be the period immediately following that would be most interesting. Thanks again. I am about halfway through the “History of the Telephone” (1915; http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/819) which touched on some of the issues. At the same time, I knew it was going to be the period immediately following that would be most interesting. Thanks again.

]]> By: Will Reichard http://blog.bradrourke.com/2009/05/22/why-social-media-is-like-the-telephone-in-1915/comment-page-1/#comment-198 Will Reichard Mon, 19 Apr 2010 14:05:05 +0000 http://blog.bradrourke.com/?p=957#comment-198 I really appreciate this post. A while back, I asked "What is the ROI of your telephone?" (http://crosscutcommunications.com/will/2010/02/what-is-the-roi-of-your-telephone/) and have since seen David Meerman Scott asking the same question. I went hunting for exactly the book you're describing here and had never found it, with the hope of writing something much like this post. Great stuff--thank you again for sharing it. I really appreciate this post. A while back, I asked “What is the ROI of your telephone?” (http://crosscutcommunications.com/will/2010/02/what-is-the-roi-of-your-telephone/) and have since seen David Meerman Scott asking the same question. I went hunting for exactly the book you’re describing here and had never found it, with the hope of writing something much like this post. Great stuff–thank you again for sharing it.

]]> By: Monetize or Die: Will Businesses Buy Twitter Analytics? | THE PRACTITIONER http://blog.bradrourke.com/2009/05/22/why-social-media-is-like-the-telephone-in-1915/comment-page-1/#comment-197 Monetize or Die: Will Businesses Buy Twitter Analytics? | THE PRACTITIONER Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:36:59 +0000 http://blog.bradrourke.com/?p=957#comment-197 [...] Social media is notoriously difficult to monetize. Just check out the difficulty Google has had trying to make YouTube profitable and you’ll see what I mean. But, Stone and Co. may have a workable business model on their hands. Anyone out there remember the Yellow Pages? Just like the phone companies sold space in the Yellow Pages, but charged nothing for residential listings, Twitter plans to subsidize private users while charging businesses for specialized access. My question is, will they buy it? [...] [...] Social media is notoriously difficult to monetize. Just check out the difficulty Google has had trying to make YouTube profitable and you’ll see what I mean. But, Stone and Co. may have a workable business model on their hands. Anyone out there remember the Yellow Pages? Just like the phone companies sold space in the Yellow Pages, but charged nothing for residential listings, Twitter plans to subsidize private users while charging businesses for specialized access. My question is, will they buy it? [...]

]]> By: Cosmin http://blog.bradrourke.com/2009/05/22/why-social-media-is-like-the-telephone-in-1915/comment-page-1/#comment-196 Cosmin Wed, 12 Aug 2009 00:00:19 +0000 http://blog.bradrourke.com/?p=957#comment-196 So what happens to the business folks trying to tap in into all the social media craze [say social media marketing]. Will it work or not? To continue the analogy, telephone spam is certainly hated... So what happens to the business folks trying to tap in into all the social media craze [say social media marketing]. Will it work or not? To continue the analogy, telephone spam is certainly hated…

]]> By: bradrourke http://blog.bradrourke.com/2009/05/22/why-social-media-is-like-the-telephone-in-1915/comment-page-1/#comment-195 bradrourke Fri, 22 May 2009 20:25:00 +0000 http://blog.bradrourke.com/?p=957#comment-195 John, that's a fascinating article. John, that’s a fascinating article.

]]> By: John Creighton http://blog.bradrourke.com/2009/05/22/why-social-media-is-like-the-telephone-in-1915/comment-page-1/#comment-194 John Creighton Fri, 22 May 2009 18:38:00 +0000 http://blog.bradrourke.com/?p=957#comment-194 Your post reminds me of an article written by Howard Rheingold in Wired Magazine in January 1999. http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/7.01/amish.html Rheingold explains the principles that Amish communities use to evaluate whether and how to adopt new technology. The Amish are not luddites. Rather, they test technologies impact on community principles. Your post reminds me of an article written by Howard Rheingold in Wired Magazine in January 1999. http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/7.01/amish.html

Rheingold explains the principles that Amish communities use to evaluate whether and how to adopt new technology. The Amish are not luddites. Rather, they test technologies impact on community principles.

]]> By: bradrourke http://blog.bradrourke.com/2009/05/22/why-social-media-is-like-the-telephone-in-1915/comment-page-1/#comment-193 bradrourke Fri, 22 May 2009 15:41:24 +0000 http://blog.bradrourke.com/?p=957#comment-193 Great point, Kay. Sometimes I think that there is one overall number that represents the 'amount" of communications, call it X. Yes, X grows over time, but not at the rate we fear. What happens is the little subdivisions of X vary wildly as new technologies (and modes of communication) replace older ones and they all reach equilibrium. Great point, Kay.

Sometimes I think that there is one overall number that represents the ‘amount” of communications, call it X. Yes, X grows over time, but not at the rate we fear. What happens is the little subdivisions of X vary wildly as new technologies (and modes of communication) replace older ones and they all reach equilibrium.

]]> By: Kay Carson http://blog.bradrourke.com/2009/05/22/why-social-media-is-like-the-telephone-in-1915/comment-page-1/#comment-192 Kay Carson Fri, 22 May 2009 15:36:58 +0000 http://blog.bradrourke.com/?p=957#comment-192 The question in my mind has always been how will we have the time to manage all of these communication tools. What I have experienced, however, is that snailmail, telephone calls and voicemail have gradually decreased in numbers and I'm probably getting the same number of communications on a daily basis - it is just more likely to be some sort of electronic message - very little hardcopy deliveries, even fewer faxes and not many voicemail messages. I do get over 200 email messages everyday. I suppose I can expect that the email messages will decrease as Facebook and Twitter become more prevalent. Will the number of communications be any greater? Will they be "soundbite" size? Don't know. The question in my mind has always been how will we have the time to manage all of these communication tools. What I have experienced, however, is that snailmail, telephone calls and voicemail have gradually decreased in numbers and I’m probably getting the same number of communications on a daily basis – it is just more likely to be some sort of electronic message – very little hardcopy deliveries, even fewer faxes and not many voicemail messages. I do get over 200 email messages everyday. I suppose I can expect that the email messages will decrease as Facebook and Twitter become more prevalent. Will the number of communications be any greater? Will they be “soundbite” size? Don’t know.

]]> By: bradrourke http://blog.bradrourke.com/2009/05/22/why-social-media-is-like-the-telephone-in-1915/comment-page-1/#comment-191 bradrourke Fri, 22 May 2009 14:06:06 +0000 http://blog.bradrourke.com/?p=957#comment-191 Thanks, Guy. That's interesting. The Internet is definitely ALMOST a public utility (which means it will of course be regulated to ensure fair and equitable distribution). I like thinking of the various tools as _features_ of the basic utility. Thanks, Guy.

That’s interesting. The Internet is definitely ALMOST a public utility (which means it will of course be regulated to ensure fair and equitable distribution). I like thinking of the various tools as _features_ of the basic utility.

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