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I found this article today and am posting it partly because I think it is pretty funny but also because I think it speaks some useful truths about online tools.
There is a tendency out there for organisations to jump on to the latest web band wagon without fully thinking through why they are getting on board and what the tool is going to do for them. Sometimes it’s a case of getting carried away with the hype and forgetting to stop and question what you are trying to achieve and which tool, free or otherwise, is going to best help you to achieve that goal.
I don’t actually agree with all that the author says. I find Linkedin very useful and dont think he is right to dismiss Facebook and Myspace either given that they have both endured and remained popular in the competitive environment that is the internet. I do have some empathy with what he says about micro blogging (Twitter). I like and use Twitter but it is just a way to share information with people and I think in time some of the hype will calm down and use will settle down a bit too. Anyway – enjoy!
Twitter sucks
Offered for consideration:
Washington Business Journal
Friday, April 3, 2009The 140-character need to belong
By Douglas Fruehling, Editor
Twitter sucks.
There, I said it. That’s probably blasphemy to many readers, given this high-tech age where we embrace anything to feel younger and hipper and where everything must have a valuable business application.
I know everybody claims to Tweet these days – it’s the subject du jour at cocktail parties and networking events. We’re spending hours squawking about what we had for dinner, how glad we are it’s Friday or how our NCAA brackets fared. But does anyone really believe we’ll be Tweeting in a year? Of course not.
I tried Twitter. I signed up, bookmarked the page and began following others. Then I waited. I waited for something to enrich my life, my brain, my soul.
I waited.
And waited.
I learned that a co-worker was fixing enchiladas and refried beans for dinner (she was trying a new mole sauce, mmmm!). I learned that chinos were on sale at the Gap and that “Slumdog Millionaire” was a must-see.
To be sure, we’re not ignoring the great Twitter movement here at the Washington Business Journal. Our daily headlines go out to Tweetville, and our publisher Alex has been chirping on a regular basis for about two weeks, though anyone who knows Alex has gotta wonder how long that will last.
We’ve even taken to printing some of the most interesting Tweets of the week from local businesspeople on Page 2 of our print edition.
But with any luck, Tweeting will disappear along with the recession, replaced by the Next Big Thing.
Remember online bulletin boards, Prodigy and AOL? I had user names and passwords for all.
I’m also a Yahoo Group user. At least I was. I haven’t signed on to my account in years. How I’ve functioned without the consultation and counsel of hundreds of my closest anonymous friends, I’ll never know.
Remember Friendster? No? Few do, but several years ago it was all the rage. Several colleagues and acquaintances friended me and I signed up. You know: Registering for free, coming up with yet another password and listing my turnoffs and turn-ons.
I never went back.
Remember LinkedIn? Everyone claimed I needed to belong, so I signed up. But I inadvertently created two accounts. I affectionately called the second Doug 2.0.
Remember MySpace? Neither do I. Good thing. Who uses MySpace anymore? It’s so 2005.
Remember Facebook? I thought it was cool at first, then my inbox got clogged with invitations to fill out cyberquizes or online chain letters asking me to reveal 20 things about myself. Oh, and people started sending me all kinds of e-cocktails. An e-cocktail? Hate to tell you, but it’s not the same as cybersex.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the Business Journal’s own social networking vehicle. We launched it last summer. I signed up, uploaded my photo, filled out the fields of information – along with at least a dozen other Washington business leaders.
I don’t disparage Twitter or any social networking for its entertainment value. It’s no different that the hottest TV show or the newest club. They come and go.
And I know there are some of you out there reading this column who love online networking. You spend hours reading other people’s Tweets or Tweeting yourself. Your Facebook pages are sacred ground. You list a litany of ways you can use them in your business and steadfastly claim you got leads or made deals by Tweeting.
Hogwash. I know the truth: The vast majority of you are in my camp. You might sign up, but it won’t be long before you give up, too busy with matters of real importance to waste your time following some dweeb in Dundalk updating the world on his jock itch.
Gotta go now. Time to Tweet this column – I just need to cut 3,472 characters.
This work by Bang the Table Pty Ltd is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia License.