The Internet is Old School

The Old School
Sure looks like it

At some point in reading this site or working on marketing for your SCUBA business, you may have thought to yourself “How does anyone keep up with all of this technology?” Similarly, I’m regularly asked, “How did you learn all of this and how do you keep up?”

Here’s my little secret: the Internet isn’t new. Twitter isn’t new. Facebook isn’t new.

Blogs, Twitter, Facebook and whatever else comes next are not inventions, simply innovations.

Doogie Howser ended every show writing in his blog (sure, he didn’t publish to the Internet, but he shared it with the world via the show) and that was back in 1989.

IRC chat became popular in the early 90s, AOL chat rooms were popular in the mid 90s and Twitter is the modern day equivalent.

Bulletin Board Systems (BBS’s) started in the late 70s with a surge in the late 80s and early 90s. From the first paragraph from Wikipedia regarding BBS’s:

A Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is a computer system running software that allows users to connect and log in to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, a user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging messages with other users, either through electronic mail or in public message boards. Many BBSes also offer on-line games, in which users can compete with each other, and BBSes with multiple phone lines often provide chat rooms, allowing users to interact with each other.

What does that sound like to you? If you don’t immediately say “Facebook”, you should immediately join Facebook.

Don’t Feel Bad

When I was discussing this concept with a friend, the response was “I feel stupid”.

Don’t feel stupid or that you’re behind, but instead use this knowledge to your advantage. These tools aren’t new and intimidating, they’ve been around for over 20 years and have been refined to be more powerful while being more user friendly.

Saying you can’t do internet marketing for your SCUBA business because it’s changing so rapidly would be like a diver who was certified 20 years ago saying they can’t dive anymore because the equipment has changed so much.

What would you say to that person?

Photo via dullhunk

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