It isn’t often that we get to witness a life-changing innovation. Our
parents spoke of their first television sets with an enthusiasm those
of us who grew up with the device couldn’t quite appreciate. Hon-
estly, did people gather in one house in the neighborhood just to
watch Milton Berle? In many ways, the following generations have
been extraordinarily fortunate. Not only did we see the arrival of
the Internet and all that came with it—e-mail, instant messaging,
online shopping, online banking, global positioning systems, just to
name a few—but we’ve also seen the arrival of Web 2.0 technologies.
Social networking and social media have changed the Internet
almost as much as the Internet has changed us.
Thanks to YouTube and other social media sites, each one of
us can take center stage and present our views of life to a world-
wide audience. For the very first time, individuals have access to
the same broad audience once reserved for major television net-
works and their wealthy advertisers. This is not to suggest that
anyone can just pick up a camera and automatically gain the
exposure and gravitas of, say, Walter Cronkite. But each of us can
work in our own little corner of YouTube to create a following and
an audience for our own particular view on life. Whether we go
onto YouTube to spread a political message, promote our busi-
nesses, or share our humor (as everyone else seems to think we’re
funny), we’ve got the power within our own hands to change our
lives through video on demand. Even Queen Elizabeth II has her
own place on YouTube!
