Rare Book Monthly
Key Players in the Attention Age
Facebook.
YouTube and streaming media are not the same thing. Streaming media is a term which refers mostly to a delivery method of information over telecommunication networks. The media is being constantly sent (by the distributor) and received (by the consumer), therefore a continuous stream. This is opposed to non-streaming, where the file is broken into packets, sent to a location and re-assembled there. While the packets are on-route the user must wait. What YouTube did was took the idea of streaming media, and gave anyone with a video camera, computer and Internet connection the ability to do it themselves. And it's all free. The Americana Exchange has used YouTube to host book-related videos such interviews with dealers and bookfair recaps.
Blogs are one of the easiest ways to get published today. Getting people to read what you publish is a different story. Most blog software is free; both Blogger and LiveJournal are. As a dealer, if you have a website, embedding a blog within it is a relatively simple process, and from there could lead to a richer website experience for your customers. Blogs allow people to get to know the writer, and if you decide to allow comments, may even lead to a dialogue. Collectors should blog (in my opinion)!
Smartphones are cellular phones with advanced capabilities. While there is no industry-wide standard, I consider smartphones today to be phones that emulate computer-functionality. They are in effect miniature computers. They are an integral part of today's Internet. One reason Twitter has become so huge is that it uses people's cell phone text messaging system (smartphone not required, though it makes it easier). People are always with their phones, so they're always able to twitter. For major smartphones, like Research In Motion's Blackberries, or Apple's iPhones, there are native apps for Facebook and Myspace as well.
This list is by no means comprehensive. The entire Attention Age as a whole is a new concept, and its definition is evolving constantly. For people who don't spend hours and hours geeking out, though, this is a start to get you familiarized and aware of some of what's going on today on the Internet. I recommend following the embedded links in the article to the various sites I've mentioned and taking them for a whirl!
