SoCon07 has come and gone, and I'm already feeling that change is in the air! I remember when I met Sherry a little over a year ago, we were discussing how far behind the curve Atlanta was in understanding and taking part in some of the most important social changes that are occurring today due to social media and web 2.0 (or whatever the heck you want to call it.) Fast forward a year, and the seeds are finally in place for Atlanta to finally start taking part in what many (myself included) are calling a revolution in communications and our ability to act collectively. Atlanta is starting to show up on the radar, and this next year will most definitely be the year of social media for this city.
I make this claim not because of any buzz, but because of the connectivity I saw happening at SoCon. Big media mingling with budding citizen journalists, marketers and bloggers comparing notes, not to mention all the new "friend" connections that have been created between people. What does all this mean? We have sociogenesis! The creation of new social clusters. This is good because more interconnectivity in any network means more opportunity and growth.
This is why social media is so significant. Instead of having to discover and connect with people who have common interests the old fashioned way, we can now grow our networks to learn and make things happen like never before!
For Atlanta, going from a city with many unconnected individuals understanding social media, to a diverse social network of people learning about, advocating, and integrating social media into their lives, is extremely significant.
I think Atlanta is going to experience a boom in the next two years. I wonder what form it will take.
