Origins of social media
This panel at SXSW09 opened with the etymology of the word "gossip" – which stems from "God" and "kin" in Old English. Apparently, back in the day, the "gossips" were the women who attended other women's childbirths or who stood by at baptisms. They considered themselves kin because they attended "the birth of new things." Gossip only morphed into a negative term in Elizabethan times.
Now, where does social media come into play with gossip?
This panel made the inference that social media has its roots in gossip and being connected. It was suggested that social media has become a more formalized version of what women have always done, formed social networks.
This was one of the more theoretical panels I visited at SXSW, but some interesting questions related to social media did come out of it.
- Do you need to feel safe before you can be yourself on the web? Or is the act of being yourself what makes the web feel safe to you?
- Through the use of social media and increased transparency, are we starting to accept our imperfections more?
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