Nicco Mele: Author of The End of Big: How the Internet Makes David the New Goliath, entrepreneur, angel investor, and consultant to Fortune 1000 companies.

At first glance, you might look at the title of this post, or the author we have on and think, “We get it! The Internet makes us connected.  Welcome to the 21st century.” However, I would like to caution you about taking such a flippant look at this topic.  After you listen to this week’s episode, if you so dare to dive into Nicco’s book, you will quickly learn that there is much more than meets the eye when it comes to how technology – specifically connectivity – is changing the world.  For example, people are turning to social media more and more to get their news updates.  Sites like Twitter and Facebook can give you real time updates of what’s going on around the world.  However, if we no longer have large news corporations such as The Washington Post or NBC news, who is going to fund the in-depth investigative stories.  We are already seeing a move towards quantity over quality when it comes to content, and that trend is only increasing – but at some point it all just becomes junk and noise.

We all know that there are definitely benefits to the information age, but it helps to understand that there are also some drawbacks, and if we don’t take the time to identify them – it could be too late before we realize what we have lost. On the most basic level, we have to be aware of how fast technology is shifting our world and make a conscious effort to attempt to understand it.  Industries are changing at a breakneck pace.  The music industry is completely different than it was just 5 years ago.  Television, advertising, travel, medicine…. the list goes on and on. Every single aspect of our world is evolving… are we ready for that?

This week’s guest is Nicco Mele. Nicco is a professor at Harvard and a leading expert in the integration of social media and Web 2.0 with politics, business, and communications. As the internet operations director for Governor Howard Dean’s 2004 presidential race, Nicco and the campaign team pioneered the use of technology and social media that revolutionized political fundraising and American politics. Later that year, Nicco founded EchoDitto, a leading internet strategy consulting company. Nicco also co-founded GeniusRocket.com, which used the Internet to change the advertising concept by soliciting creative online in an open and collaborative process. Named in 2003 by EsquireMagazine as one of America’s “best and brightest,” Nicco was born in West Africa to foreign service parents.