I would liken a chat room to a room full of people all conversing with each other at the same time (without all the yelling to be heard over each other of course), whereas I would liken social media to an empty room with a whiteboard in which people occasionally come in to write messages on. Others who wander through the room can see those messages (but only those that have a key to the room) and can pick up the marker and reply to an existing message or leave some thought of their own. Maybe while you’re in there (in the case of FaceBook), you can rifle through the filing cabinet and learn more about the person who wrote the message you’re looking at.

Just like the car and airplane are both modes of transportation, chat rooms and social media are both ways to communicate with others online, but do so differently. I guess you could say that social media is a chat room with wings and a propeller attached to its engine.

Speaking of which, I actually got here after reading one of your tweets. I guess I took a plane into the city, and am now taking a taxi by replying to your blog post. Okay, enough with the analogies.

With Twitter, you can choose whether your profile is seen privately or publicly. I’d say 98% of all profiles created are public. Similarly, Facebook also blocks your content for all uninvited guests. At times, Twitter can seem like a chat room where you have all these indirect tweets going into space. However, you can direct your tweets at individuals in two ways: @reply, and Direct Message. @Reply is like responding to a friend’s text message, but all of your other friends can see it. Direct Message is private and only the recipient can read it and reply.

Because Facebook has so many applications (like you mentioned) it almost seems more like an online journal to me.

I also saw the Omniture billboard, but I’ve never though of it the way you first interpreted it. Very insightful. I wonder if they ever thought about its double-meaning? Regardless, it’s true that the internet is here to stay.

Facebook is more like instant messaging. (I have not yet become “Twitter-pated” so I can’t say whether the same goes.) Not only does Facebook now have an actual instant messenger, but you choose who you become friends with and even who can see if you are available to chat. However, Facebook definitely takes it a few steps further. It has personal information, photos, an e-mail-like inbox, and countless applications you can add to your profile.

I think that while history is known to repeat itself, these new social media websites have learned from the past and improved our ability to communicate and stay in touch.

It brings to mind a billboard I’ve seen recently. I believe it’s by Omniture. “The internet isn’t going anywhere.” To which my initial reaction was: “What? It’s not progressing?” Upon further contemplation I realized it probably meant that the internet is here to stay. And I believe it is progressing, for better or for worse, it is moving forward.