The power for us to connect
I’ve always known that the Internet has the power to bring people together. It’s changed social dynamics and inter-personal communication. Recent events proved that point and more to me once again. It’s a very powerful reminder to live in a very inter-connected world.
Back in December a “friend” on Facebook proposed to me to give his EMBA class a lecture on social media marketing. I actually never met him in real life and couldn’t even remember if I had added him first or he added me. In any case, I accepted the offer and conducted the lecture in Shanghai a week ago. I had spent some time putting together the material and I was pleased with how the lecture went. Afterwards I shared the presentation on SlideShare.net, which if you don’t know is a web service that allows people to share presentation documents online on all kinds of topics.
Then today on my way to a Twitter user meet-up (or a tweet-up) I got an e-mail (on my iPhone) from a professor in the US saying that he saw my presentation online and would like my permission to use it in his class. I quickly wrote back and said yes. Of course I would. I believe in the spirit of sharing, not to mention it’d be for a class. Plus, if anyone really wanted to use the content, it’s not that hard to re-create it from scratch – the original file really isn’t necessary.
First I got the opportunity to give that lecture from an online contact. Then the presentation will be seen by a class all the way across the world in a university in Wisconsin, because the professor saw it online. I find this pretty amazing.
The Internet is quickly changing the world and changing the way we live our lives. I’m really glad to be part of this change!
I was the professor who saw Allen’s presentation on Slideshare and requested the slide deck and his permission to use it. While it is true that I could have recreated the content, there needs to be mutual respect for all these amazing people sharing their expertise, intellect and hard work online. Yes, the web is quite amazing.
Besides I also believe that we are beginning to see the rise of two major trends -
1. Online connections or relationships emerging due to common interests or passion about a subject matter. This to me is the most powerful ingredient, which will allow us to together find solutions for perhaps even cancer (I certainly hope!). By the way this movement transcends all geographic boundaries, cultures, language, education levels, gender and so on…
2. The indirect rise of a universal identity of individuals and in some ways even groups and organizations. In this trend one can find all kinds of information on individuals, groups etc. on the web shaped by their participation in these social networks, postings, reviews by other people and so on. This in turn influences people’s perception about them. A case in point – I found several presentations on slideshare that addressed social media marketing. Allen’s presentation appealed to me and I immediately spent some time researching who he was and what he did. I also looked at any reviews I could find…needless to say..I was very impressed. So here we are and I glad I connected with him….who knows he may find students from my class wanting to connect with him next…:)
Thank you for the kind words, professor. Hope your class enjoy my slides.
Keep in touch.
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