Using new media to look at new media

I have taken on the task of being, in one way or another, a cartographer of new media. Everyone talks about the types of new media - web 2.0 (or 3.0) is or is not a descriptor for the future of the internet. Blogs/podcasts/mashups/[insert flashy newmedia word here] are the new hottest thing or so done before. Social networks and their variations are the hot new places to market or to be criticized for marketing on. Viral marketing is either a good idea or offends users for pandering to them.

And so, I shall try to make sense of it all for people who aren't living in it. I don't speak code - to me, CAML sounds like an animal, and AJAX a cleaning product - although I do acknowledge the value of XML and its derivatives in communicating with such code-y engines.

To begin: XML is a way of labeling information (with meta data) so that information can be queried independent of its layout or it's original use. You could put an article into a folder and remember where to find it if you need it again. However, XML lets you put it into a database to be used whenever you want. Even better, XML is becoming more universally used, so other people can use your article whenever they want. They can access the content (which you created and which stays the same) and present it however they want. And as content moves, its XML meta data stays the same. This video explains it far better than I will, and I defer to it.



In summary? XML lets you label content you create and lets you put that content in lots of different places while keeping its meta data with it.