Five Pre-Internet Social Media Technologies
Thursday, July 9th, 2009
With the rise of so many social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Digg, it’s easy to think of social media as a modern concept that followed the rise of the internet. However, social media itself is as old as the hills. Well. Maybe not the hills, but the technology that supports social media can be dated as far back as morse code. The following are five social media technologies that predate the internet and all are still in use.
Bulletin Board
Need a babysitter or a place to rent? Want to rant about your noisy neighbours? Getting rid of last semesters 5 lb textbooks? Post it! The great thing about bulletin boards is they are everywhere: coffee shops, university dormitories, and bus stops. If you need eyeballs and don’t want to pay the price for real estate in the classifieds, nothing does better than a good ol’ fashioned bulletin board. Bulletin boards are so effective that modern message boards take inspiration from them.
CB Radio
Breaker! Breaker! If you’re a trucker, the CB radio is your social link to the outside world. What is it? A selection of 40 radio channels anyone can use. It does not require a license and, unlike ham radio, it may be used for business as well as personal communications. In fact, in some rural areas the CB radio is the only radio. However, if you’re a city dweller, the CB radio can be a great social medium to talk to people in your neighborhood!
Morse Code
You’re lost in the wilderness and you need to communicate with nearby helicopters. What do you do? Grab a blanket, start a fire, and communicate in morse code of course! Though morse code is often used for emergencies, it is often the only form of communication for people with disabilities, such as those with severe motion disabilities. Who else uses it? Aviators, amateur radio operators, and the navy.
Email has usurped snail mail, but postcards still have class. Why? Because when you’re traveling, they are just the thing to mail when you need to send something personal, collectible, and unique. Postcards are certifiable mementos, evidence that you were there. Not bad for something that’s essentially just cardboard and a postage stamp.
Telephone
The only telecommunications network that is more essential than the internet is the telephone! They’re so important that it’s common to spend hundreds of dollars a month on service. Entire industries are based on its use. Not only is the telephone the most used social media technology, it is also the most lucrative. How lucrative? Ask Apple how their iPhone is doing.
Conclusion
July 9th, 2009 at 6:58 pm
Absolutely bang on. Nothing to add, but that never stopped me from leaving a comment yet!
August 30th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
Liked the reminder .. where there’s a will to communicate, there’s a way!