Social = Me First

I caused some consternation when I started to describe social tools — a decade ago — with the expression “social = me first.” It sounds selfish, or maybe even narcissistic, but but it is based on the observation that we all are at the center of our own social network, our own world.

Before we do anything else we have to define ourselves — create an account, chose a user name, fill out a profile, pick a time zone — and then, only then, do we start connecting with others and letting the social tool mediate our interactions.

Nick Bilton obviously gets that:

Nick Bilton, A Technology World That Revolves Around Me

If you pull out your smartphone and click the button that says “locate me” on your mapping application, you will see a small dot appear in the middle of your screen.

That’s you.

If you start walking down the street in any direction, the whole screen will move right along with you, no matter where you go.

This is a dramatic change from the print-on-paper world, where maps and locations are based around places and landmarks, not on you or your location. In the print world people don’t go to the store and say, “Oh, excuse me, can I buy a map of me?” Instead, they ask for a map of New York, or Amsterdam, or the subway system. You and I aren’t anywhere to be seen on these maps. The maps are locations that we fit into.

But today’s digital world has changed that. Now, we are always in the center of the map, and it’s a very powerful place to be.

When people want to know how the media business will deal with the Internet, the best way to begin to understand the sweeping changes is to recognize that the consumer of entertainment and information is now in the center. That center changes everything. It changes your concept of space, time and location. It changes your sense of community. It changes the way you view the information, news and data coming directly to you.

Now you are the starting point. Now the digital world follows you, not the other way around.

This has become a central tenet of social tools, and other appliances of the socialized universe that we float around in, like maps on our iPhones.

We have defected from mass media, and in a world based on social principles, we scale from the individual outward through social connection, almost in a fractal way. And all the strategically important apps of the near future will work in that way.