I recently started reading The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman. I’m only about 100 pages into it so far, but it’s a great page-turner — especially for someone like me who loves technology so much and remembers being on AOL back before the dawn of the Internet in 1993 when the first Mac and Windows versions were launched (I was PimpG@aol.com). And before that, I was connecting to home-grown BBSes via my 2400 baud modem. I was an early adopter.
Friedman argues that there are ten factors that have changed the history of the world in recent years — the fall of the Berlin Wall on 11/9/89, the IPO of Netscape on 8/9/95 (I recall using Netscape Navigator 1 in August 1995), the creation of work flow software and the spreading out of tasks for maximum efficiency around the world (I happen to work for a company that has proven success with this model), the empowering of individuals creating and sharing content via “uploading,” among others — and that we happen to be here when all this happened and is happening.
The uploading, of course, refers to the dawn of self-publishing: blogs, podcasts, and the like. I posted my first blog entry back in 2000 and blogged sporadically that year and in 2001 before beginning regular posting in May 2002. It’s a great feeling to be part of one of the factors that has helped to shape modern times.
And one needn’t even have one’s own blog to self-publish these days. There’s a site called AssociatedContent that aims to create a vast library of quality content on any subject matter you can imagine. The site earns revenue through advertising and encourages individuals to self-pubilsh by paying a one-time fee to the author for each piece he or she submits. My friend Seth has already racked up a nice library of articles on the site, including A Visitor’s Guide to Saratoga Springs, New York and Is Saratoga Springs’ Real Estate Market Finally Cooling?
Through our shared knowledge, experiences, and insights, we’re all helping to build this new and exciting era of mankind.
