A new addition to the world appeared yesterday, a little baby girl named Alyson. In congratulating the parents I asked “So should we set up a web site for her on the day she was born?” They thought it was a great idea, and within two hours of her birth, Alyson had a presence on the Internet. I thought this could be a unique little gift that she could use her entire life. Of course then it follows that we should also establish a presence in Facebook and Twitter, though I don’t think her status will be much to read for a while. However, she will have these ready for her, ostensibly with introductions and well wishes from friends and family…. and a whole lot of spam I imagine.
Think of all the pictures and slides and mementos of childhood. Many people, including myself, are prone to finding them, scanning them, and placing them on Facebook to share and remember. Alyson won’t ever have to do that, everything since the day she was born will be there for her, cataloged into albums, and always available online.
So will Facebook even be around? Will data be able to be shared and easily moved? How long are these services expected to retain content? All of these are questions to be pondered. Who knows what services and channels will be popular when Alyson is old enough to manage and share them, but she already has a head start on all of that. She is a Social Media Baby, before she can even be just a beautiful social baby.
