Consumption, Interaction and Contribution…

Last year I had the privilege of  giving a presentation about social media and business to the ASTD chapter in Ann Arbor. They were an awesome group, and I highly recommend attending a meeting if you’re in the L&T field and looking to connect with others in the Ann Arbor area. But I digress…

We first talked about the history of learning management — why we put systems in place to monitor and check learning throughout our organizations.  Then we transitioned to a conversation about Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 (not withstanding the new conversations regarding Web 3.0).  During that time I mentioned that the major difference between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 were a few of the words that headline this post.

Consumption:

When “the internets” first placed content into our crude browser windows, we were amazed. It was like when we were children pressing our noses against the toy store window, dreaming about the possibility of interacting with what felt so far away. We observed and consumed what we saw. But that’s where it stopped.

Interaction:

Then a whole new world opened up! People began to play with this new technology in ways that amazed us. Building sites that were “interactive.” You could type on them, and you could drag objects around the screen. We were interacting with Internet. Awesome.

Contribution:

But then the paradigm shifted. Programmers developed solutions that allowed the common, everyday Joe to write blogs, build communities, and share information with the world.  There are still people who don’t understand that Internet is no longer a passive communication device.  It is a new world of possibilities.

“The future ain’t what it used to be.” — Yogi Berra

This quote has often been used when we’re talking about innovation and the future. But I like to think about the future’s relevance to the past. Since the beginning of time, we’ve always found new ways to communicate. We’ve grunted at each other, we’ve carved images into stones, we’ve inked on parchment, we’ve pressed on keys. Whether it’s Web 2.0, 3.0 or 9.0, these new tools will simply be innovative ways to share information, tell stories, and learn from one another.

Now that I’ve contributed, why don’t you? Be a part of the “contribution” superhighway!