The Cloud Community - An Introduction

Forget blue-sky thinking – Get your head in the clouds!

To a ‘civilian’, digital media sounds technical, perhaps exciting – or even boring but definitely daunting to those unfamiliar with the term. Surprisingly, the majority of us have contact with digital media on a daily basis. I’m not talking television, video or DVD - or even iPod, Wii consoles or broadband. I am talking about the intangible source of information in the clouds.

We all know the success of Facebook, Twitter and Myspace and the ability to connect with forgotten friends and share our lives on the ‘world wide web’. And some may even know of ‘cloud computing’, which allows access to files remotely from any location providing you have a computer, internet connection, a login and a password. These tools are two examples falling under the umbrella term ‘digital media’.

The UK has embraced cloud power on a personal level. The next logical step was to apply this format to business. In my world this all happened rather naturally. One minute I was a Graphic Designer come Marketing Assistant, the next I was appointed ‘Communications and Digital Media Manager’ – no formal training required – or not as the case may be. As I mentioned earlier, the job change came naturally but on reflection, my responsibilities at Glow had morphed over the years to accommodate new trends in communication and technology and subsequently my skills have been adapted and increased in order to use these tools effectively (a case of cloud evolution me thinks). Perhaps the change was apparent when I chose to take on a ‘Digital Print’ degree as opposed to a ‘Screen Printing’ course. Or maybe I should have noticed a shift when I taught myself to build websites on a whim “in case the need arises” which, I hasten to add it has. On the other hand maybe I shouldn’t have seen the shift – maybe I am over-analysing, after all technology makes evolution so much faster these days so maybe we just notice it more than say those living in the 1700’s.

I digress. The importance of this article is to recognize, not analyse, the presence of digital media.

I imagine digital media as a community above our heads connected with motorways, A roads, and more pleasant and relaxing country lanes. Throw in a few railway tracks and you should be able to visualize my head in the clouds. This community is the whole world and we have access to it all. A live feed of information available to everyone and powered by various digital media tools: The Cloud Community.

We can browse the web at our leisure using the country lanes, do some window shopping and stop for a chat at social media sites. Or we can conduct business, network and seal deals using the motorways, taking advantage of the live feed of information and instant communication tools.

Digital media agencies are being formed specifically to offer digital media services. These can be anything from e-marketing solutions to the integration of more technical systems. Cashing in on the services offered by digital media agencies and the like are companies such as OpenAmplify, who monitor the use and context of words in online conversations and articles:

"OpenAmplify uses multi-patented text analysis software to 'read' and understand the meaning of every word in every sentence and paragraph that it analyses across social networks and the wider web. It understands what's being discussed, how, when, where and why - making it extremely valuable for anyone seeking to monetise, analyse or create value from online content. It understands whether a topic of discussion is positive or negative, how emotionally engaged the author is in the topic, and what the author plans or intends to do about it. And it can do that automatically, hundreds of millions of times a day."

Mark Redgrave. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/pda.  27^th October 2010

The existence of such companies already demonstrates the power of digital media and the already expanding possibilities and opportunities that are presented as a result.

In conclusion, this short article has merely been written in recognition of digital media and it’s presence in society. I hope to re-visit the topic in the near future providing examples of what and how to use digital media effectively. This article is a case in point – if you are reading it you have entered the cloud community!