discobeta

With the help of mobile phones, more public wireless and services like Facebook, twitter and Foursquare, more people are lifestreaming than ever before (whether they realize it or not).  The New York Times brings us this piece: Party On, but No Tweets.  An excerpt:

In an era, when a stray gripe about your boss can land you on an industry blog, when waking up hung over can frantically send you to Facebook to untag your name from photos of the previous night’s frosting-wrestling contest, when shots of you in unflattering jeans become part of your permanent Google search results, there are signs that some are tired of living their lives on the Web.

Social technologies are changing the way people communicate online, but they are also changing the way that people communicate offline.  And, not surprisingly, there's a bit of a backlash and a desire to get back to the basics of face-to-face communication.  There's an increasing need for people to unplug from the web, and even a movement in from cafes in New York to limit wireless access for laptop users.

I have written before about the brands differentiating themselves by not being social.  We're starting to see both businesses and individuals striving to create their own self-contained social environments -- one that doesn't spill out onto the web.  This doesn't make them anti-social.  It just a realignment of priorities: not everyone should have online access to your offline experiences, just as your offline friends shouldn't be subjected to lulls in conversation while you tweet about your meal.

The most exclusive content doesn't exist online to top-tier members of your community or social graph.  In fact, the most exclusive content doesn't exist online at all.