TEXT II

    If you think that there’s something oddly familiar about descriptions of social media, it may be that you recall some of the discussions in the 1990s about what the web would become. And many of its emerging manifestations are close to the idealistic imaginings from that time. A good way to think about social media is that all of this is actually just about being human beings. Sharing ideas, cooperating and collaborating to create art, thinking and commerce, vigorous debate and discourse, finding people who might be good friends, allies and lovers – it’s what our species has built several civilisations on. That’s why it is spreading so quickly, not because it’s great shiny, whizzy new technology, but because it lets us be ourselves – only more so. And it is in the “more so” that the power of this revolution lies. People can find information, inspiration, like-minded people, communities and collaborators faster than ever before. New ideas, services, business models and technologies emerge and evolve at dizzying speed in social media.

(http://www.icrossing.co.uk/fileadmin/uploads} /eBooks/What_is_social_media_Nov_2007.pdf

TEXT II

    If you think that there’s something oddly familiar about descriptions of social media, it may be that you recall some of the discussions in the 1990s about what the web would become. And many of its emerging manifestations are close to the idealistic imaginings from that time. A good way to think about social media is that all of this is actually just about being human beings. Sharing ideas, cooperating and collaborating to create art, thinking and commerce, vigorous debate and discourse, finding people who might be good friends, allies and lovers – it’s what our species has built several civilisations on. That’s why it is spreading so quickly, not because it’s great shiny, whizzy new technology, but because it lets us be ourselves – only more so. And it is in the “more so” that the power of this revolution lies. People can find information, inspiration, like-minded people, communities and collaborators faster than ever before. New ideas, services, business models and technologies emerge and evolve at dizzying speed in social media.

(http://www.icrossing.co.uk/fileadmin/uploads} /eBooks/What_is_social_media_Nov_2007.pdf

TEXT I

Beware the power of the blog

Companies may not like blogs, but if they ignore them
they may be inviting some PR disasters

    The number of blogs on the internet is doubling every five months, according to blog-tracking site Technorati. The total is now around 20 million, with around 1.3 million posts made each day. Most are no more interesting than overhearing another person's telephone call, but there are exceptions that can have a remarkable impact.

(from http://www.computing.co.uk/itweek/comment/ 2145491/beware-power-blog, retrieved on September 24th, 2008)

TEXT I

Beware the power of the blog

Companies may not like blogs, but if they ignore them
they may be inviting some PR disasters

    The number of blogs on the internet is doubling every five months, according to blog-tracking site Technorati. The total is now around 20 million, with around 1.3 million posts made each day. Most are no more interesting than overhearing another person's telephone call, but there are exceptions that can have a remarkable impact.

(from http://www.computing.co.uk/itweek/comment/ 2145491/beware-power-blog, retrieved on September 24th, 2008)

TEXT I

Beware the power of the blog

Companies may not like blogs, but if they ignore them
they may be inviting some PR disasters

    The number of blogs on the internet is doubling every five months, according to blog-tracking site Technorati. The total is now around 20 million, with around 1.3 million posts made each day. Most are no more interesting than overhearing another person's telephone call, but there are exceptions that can have a remarkable impact.

(from http://www.computing.co.uk/itweek/comment/ 2145491/beware-power-blog, retrieved on September 24th, 2008)