Eleanor Roosevelt, The First Blogger

Social media, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn…You can’t escape these words. They’re in the news, in the papers, and your online experience is drenched in social media. The reason its so popular is because its “new” and evolving so rapidly. But I stumbled across an article that made me realize: social media is not new – it has just found new means of expression.

Eleanor Roosevelt wrote a weekly newspaper column from 1936 to 1962 called “My Day”. The column was read by nearly the whole country and Eleanor received over 300,000 response letters to that column. The topic of her columns were daily activities that were written to relate to the trials and tribulations of the recession of that time. Just like a blog, she outlined her daily activities. Just like a blog, she received comments from readers. The column she wrote is an example of an interactive and social outlet way back in the 1930′s.

I am not a social media skeptic, because I believe that social media will always be around. The reincarnations that it will have are yet to be seen. From a newspaper column to a blog to a vlog to who knows what. Social media will continue to evolve, and I’m excited to participate throughout that evolution.

Check out our new social media glossary, and keep up with the pace of the social sphere.

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