Only Connect

I keep thinking about what will be different after the recession is over compared to the boom that ended three years ago. I was on George Lee's new radio show this morning talking about just that. The one thing I thought would be very different is our relationship with technology.

Take internet usage: incredibly, at the frothiest peak of the Celtic Tiger boom in Q1 2007, only a minority of Irish people were using the internet. And yet, despite the economic implosion that has afflicted numerous categories, internet usage has risen steadily - to about 80% of all adults in Ireland today. These seismic shifts in technology usage appear to be immune from the influence of the economic cycle. And not just in Ireland: the chart, from the latest Morgan Stanley Internet Trends report (packed full of stunning trends and data), shows one of many inflexion points shaping life online around the world. Email is old hat it seems. I feel old...

Indeed, the worldwide social networking phenomenon seems, if anything, to be accelerating, as captured in this stunning presentation from Marta Kagan:

What the F**k is Social Media NOW?

View more presentations from Marta Kagan.

Life after the recession is going to be a lot different to life before. And a lot better connected.