My career in the social technology space has landed me smack in a host of debates over the potential evils of the advent of social technology. It is just another excuse to blame the invention rather than the individuals that are either using it for evil or in a less than smart way. My typical response is that social technology may in fact enhance a stupid activity or expose a momentary lapse in judgment but it is not the technology but the human... both the messenger and the audience that is making a judgment.
My typical analogy involves other inventions that have changed dramatically the way society has behaved. The automobile... it completely changed the way the world traveled, economies (think what the Middle East was before the auto), and business. An automobile can be used as an ambulance, a delivery truck, a bus for students, a way to see family, a transport for dogs being rescued, and it can kill. In the wrong hands, it can be used as a deadly weapon. Do we blame the entire industry for the fault of the car? NO!!! The same is true with the airplanes. They are really effective killing machines even as domestic air travel transportation sadly. However, they are also used for life flights, help put out forest fires, and get you home for Thanksgiving.
For the nay sayers, most of them are casual observers I find. They don't use Facebook or Twitter. (You know they were the same people in the 1940's taking a horse and buggy to work or thought that email was a fad.) They mock what they fear or don't understand. However, I find, they do use Amazon and pay attention to user reviews. Anything that is UGC (User Generated Content) is a by product of social networking. Many charities are using social networking to raise money, get their message out, organize events.
My guess is most of you can relate a wonderful experience that is due to social networking. We hear about the bad on the evening news. Heck, what other industry beyond travel agents is more threatened by quantity of news available via social sites than broadcast news? What are some of your stories of good things that happened as a result of the advent of the social technology revolution?
