I’m currently at Blogworld 2009, learning about the latest trends about new media and blogging.  I am taking a break from the usual system administration and web programming posts. The highlight of the first day of the conference was the keynote by Chris Brogan. He had a lot of interesting points with what to do with your blog — how to set it up, branding, extending the platform, and the importance of trust.  Social media is evolving. Chris brought up the point that long form articles (old school newspaper articles) are on the way out. The reason why Twitter is getting so popular is because people just want the point of the article. Not everyone has the time to read pages of news. 

I liked the point where he talked about how he goes to these conferences and everyone is quick to give a business card out before introducing themselves. I think its more effective to introduce yourself rather than opting for the business card “spam” route.  There’s a lot of distractions — Farmville invites, Mafia wars, etc. Its time to move to onto more meaningful interactions through social media. Sharing of information never has been so accessible. Chris talked a lot on the relationship of the business and the customer. Anticipate what your customer needs. Social media is a two way street. This is one of the reasons why I have setup this blog — I want to share the experiences I’ve had with developing applications and systems.