Welcome to Exploring Communications...

These are my ponderings about how the communications in my sphere of influence are changing and how my sphere is growing exponentially as a result of my involvement in social media.

I have worked in the communications industry for 15 years in public relations, journalism and corporate writing. My blogging is not only a personal interest but an imperative to staying relevant in this growing world of social ineractivity.

I hope you enjoy and that my thoughts spark discussion amongst your networks... and i'd love to hear your thoughts whether you agree or disagree.

To blog or micro-blog???

I am sure i am like many new bloggers... start a blog for a good solid purpose... write a few blogs... and then... well... run out of time.

It's what i feared when i started it, but didn't realise that as i embarked on it i would become addicted to alternative outlets. I have become a micro-blogger!! I started my addiciton with Twitter, and then it progressed to include Plurk... and i must say Plurk has kept my interest. I have not only 'met' some interesting people and learned some interesting things, from information about social media to some very amusing discussions about a toddlers reaction to Plurk.

Whilst i still agree there is a very valid reason for having a blog (I am currently writing an entry now, so i must), it sometimes feels like I am writing to no one but me. Which is okay in itself, but part of my purpose of of blogging, is to engage in discussion about the changing landscape of communications. I am finding i am getting far greater interaction via networks such as Plurk and Twitter. It will be interesting to come back to this in six months and see what i am using then! No doubt it will be something different... perhaps a hybrid Plitter?

If you'd like to interact with me in the micro-blogging world (www.twitter.com or www.plurk.com) you can find me as 'verbaw' - just connect to me and i'll accept your friendship! But by all means leave me a comment - it'll make me feel like it's being read by at least one person other than me!

Learning to trust... or not...

The more I adopt social software and transact online the more I am discovering I have to trust people i don't know and may never meet... which doesn't come naturally to me in any way shape or form. It's certainly not a bad thing as imagine what an impact this will have for global communications over a period of time.

If you look at my previous world of social interaction... as a cancerian, I have a hard shell in which i can hide. Perfected over years it had become quite effective when required... But that was for 'hard copy' social interactions... now i am having more and more 'soft copy' social interactions it's a whole new ball game; with new rules, a new language and far less geographic boundaries.

Just over the last week i have had a number of interactions with eBay purchasers, emailing, calling and coming to pick up items won. Some of these interactions have been positive and some not so positive. In order to make the transaction possible i needed to have a certain degree of trust in these people. Add to this interactions I have with Twitter, Facebook, Brightkite, Blogs I realised that I am actually communicating far more with people I don't have any physical contact with than with the people I know in person.

Then this leads me to think about the value of a hard copy as opposed to a soft copy, interaction. Do humans need to have hard copy interactions to exist as 'normal' human beings... if all you had were soft copy social networks how would humans evolve differently? What will happen to our language and what will my two and four year old be doing when they're in their thirties???

When I was young I was taught not to trust strangers... but what do i teach my children, now that I am having to cross my traditional boundaries. If people followed these traditional boundaries then all these fabulous online communities wouldn't be germinating. I am not really sure there is an answer to this pondering... but it's been good exploring it.

Diary of a writer

I went to see a memory evoking play at the ensemble just recently, about a cab driver during the Sydney 2000 Olympics. It was very humorous and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who was in Sydney at this time.

I don't often get to go out to plays (as a mum I don't go out much at all really - stop the violins... I am okay about it... really!), and so it was rather intense sitting in the theatre in the round, while this almost soliloquy unfolded to a world that I totally related to. Coupled with the fact that play was structured like a daily diary, it interestingly was also quite familiar territory to my new 'social' interactions online.
Note to self: I must endeavour to see more plays as mixed media helps to expand the mind!

Time for some words...

Well this is my very first post and rather than completely stress over the amazing points I could make, I will use this opportunity to just banter about why I have finally made it to blogging.

My main barrier to entry was the fact that i really didn't feel like i had anything of general interest to say... it's certainly not to say that I have no confidence in what i have to say... just that i wasn't really quite sure what people wanted to hear. The inner 'professional writer' in me was planning for my audience rather than just writing.

However, since embarking on the micro-blogging world of twitter (www.twitter.com - find me @verbAW), i have come to the realisation that if you don't start communicating you don't really know what it's about.

So here I am... embarking on a new world of communication with the aim of staying relevant:

• Personally - so that when my kids start communicating online I will actually understand what is going on; and
• Professionally - because as a writer, I could find my income source dry up if I don't get involved in the relationship economy/web 2.0/social media.