• by Brendan Condon , October 2, 2012

You say you want a revolution
Well, you know
We all want to change the world
You tell me that it's evolution
Well, you know
We all want to change the world

In 1968, John Lennon wrote this anthem, Revolution, as the world was changing around him. Today, I reflect on his words and think they apply perfectly to the radical digital transformation of the media industry and how it impacts our communication.

This radical digital transformation is changing the way we communicate and can launch a movement, influence our discussions, and educate a community.

Launch A Movement:

The “Arab Spring” in Tunisia, Egypt and elsewhere in the Middle East heavily relied on the internet, and social media and technologies such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube in the early stages to accelerate social protest.

In 2011, Wael Ghonim, the head of marketing in the Middle East for Google, became internationally recognized by energizing the pro-democracy revolution through a Facebook page, "We are all Khaled Saeed.”

This digital media movement was probably the most explosive example of the power of social media changing the world…and being radical.

This is just the beginning of digital media transforming the way the world works. New technologies are going to make the world a better place and allow voices to be heard. Digital technology can bring us together and help us transform. More movements will be enabled, and discovered, thought digital and social media. And the impact will be earth shattering.

Influence Our Discussions:

Digital media is driving the conversation. It can be serious or funny, or a little bit of both. And digital media will continue to evolve our discussions with the new technologies being developed from Silicon Alley to Silicon Valley.

Think about it, in less than a few hours, the chair, or @InvisibleObama, had more than 60K followers after Clint Eastwood talked to him at the Republican National Convention.

Even Obama himself got involved tweeting a photo of his chair, saying, “This seat’s taken.”

Our discussions are mobile, and digital, and will only get more so with the new technologies coming. They will be more niche, or more global, but they will most strikingly be digital.

In the classic movie “Network,” Albert Finney, yelled out of a window, “I’m mad as hell and not going to take it anymore.” If that movie took place today, Finney’s character would have tweeted that line. And then everyone would have joined in on Twitter, not yelling out the window. Perhaps, if you will, the screaming out the window was an early beta of Twitter.

Educate a Community:

Cities are using digital media to communicate with their constituents. In Santa Monica, they text and tweet the weekly street closings.

After a mild earthquake in Beverly Hills, the Los Angeles Fire Department, tweeted that there was no significant damage.

Even traditional media, such as the local NBC, CBS and ABC affiliates, provided primers of how to use social media for Hurricane Irene. It educated the community on how to reach FEMA, and the Red Cross, as well as teaching newbies how to use Twitter, Facebook and SMS to stay in the know during this emergency. In this case, digital media and traditional media worked hand-in-
hand.

And in 2011, Mayor Bloomberg, created NYC Digital to “realize New York City’s potential as the world’s leading digital city.” NYC Digital focuses on initiatives including Access to Technology, Education, Open Government, Engagement and Industry. This is all detailed in a Road Map to the Digital City. A road map—is there anything that says digital media development, more than a
road map. Love it and love what it brings to the city, as a community.

So back to the song, Revolution. Lennon wrote that “Don’t you know you can count me out (in).” Well, just count me in, and let’s make this world a better place. Let’s create radical change, and develop better, bigger and bolder digital media platforms and technology for the good of the universe and for the greater good.

Brendan Condon, the CEO of REVSHare, is an industry-leading executive who has specialized in all aspects of media including Video, Web Display, Mobile, and Ad Serving, - across portals, 3rd party ad networks, vertical publishing houses, social networks and emerging technologies. Prior to REVShare, he spent 25 years at Time Warner in a variety of global executive roles working in
digital at AOL, in national print with Time Inc., and cross-platform media for Time Warner Cable. He can be reach at Brendan.Condon@Revshare.com.