In some early, random tweet I said something like this… the biggest job creator of the decade: Mark Zuckerberg. His “gift” to the nation was Facebook, which i believe has translated in job creation similar to WWII, the inception of the internet, and possible this multi-billion dollar job/economic stimulus created by Obama (infrastructure improvement). [Disclaimer: this is not a post to glorify Zuckerberg; this is more about the facebook effect that has created a cultural, economic revolution]

Facebook is a dynamic invention, creating jobs (and it’s own markets) in both the public and private sector, and in several dimensions. What I mean is, jobs have been expanded in the areas of HR, Communications, Marketing, IT, Web Development. People can now blog for a living because enough people are online and the internet is now more integrated than it has ever been. There are now enterprise applications that are employee-exclusive and/or customer-facing (CRM applications, work-collaboration platforms) and whole market dedicated to web developers of those applications (think developing apps for an iPhone or Android OS, but only certain platforms). There’s even plenty of professors who dedicate their research to this sociological shift.

(And yes, I understand the argument against it. There have been many jobs/sectors that also have unfortunately been eradicated — like newspapers — but I believe that’s more of a technological shift (and economic [$ and competition], political [sustainabile practice]) that serves as the umbrella that encompassing the social-cultural shift I’m talking about.) 

The reason why fb is more revolutionary than it’s web 2.0 predecessors it its vast global adoption and retention rates — not only composed of university students, high school kids, their parents and their grandparents. But of companies, of groups, of artists. It’s a virtual world; with virtual sub-worlds (Farmville and Mafia Wars). Zuckerberg proved that it wasn’t just a fun thing to do online; he proved that social networking sites plays an integral role in how we live our lives, and there’s plenty of safe ways to monetize that way of living.

Public sector: Like I mentioned earlier, web 2.0 is transforming current jobs. Even the way we find jobs is done via e-socially. There is a fascinating growth in social media manager positions today with the job description often plenty different from the next. One position could be building and maintaing a fb, twitter presence for a granola bar  company; another position could be promoting and creating products in a global ecosystem of partners, clients, innovators, and developers for a tech-company. The possibilities are growing.

Private sector (private, non-profit): I was reading an article that was created today about two NYU seniors who were “inspired by Mark Zuckerberg” to create their own company. http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/oct2010/bs20101015_395013.htm. I can name a ton of websites that were created by the influx of “believers” of social sites: Gilte groupe, groupon, woot. 

Non-profits also use social sites to share their stories or to promote for their next seasonal invitation for donations. One of my good friends (who’s an ops manager at a local food bank) hires specifically people to maintain their online presence. It makes sense as it builds awareness where people are at; it’s cheap; and the photos/videos can be much more effective than a print ad or the like.

Ok, well, you get the picture. I have nothing cool to end this with, but wanted to jot down my thoughts. So……. back to studying.