Having recently asked if Twitter has already turned too many into twits,
I was disgusted and appalled to find out that Twitter twitted it’s 10 Billionth Tweet this week. I guess I have my answer. And it scares me.
Category Archives: Social Media
If Social Networking Sites Were College Students
Check out this great post over on Aaron Hoos blog on if social networking sites were college students. In a word, it’s awesome.
- Classmates.com: the self-absorbed senior who’s been attending college for 8 years to get a 4 year degree
- MySpace: once the most popular student in school … put on some weight and sold out to “the man”
- Facebook: the great looking guy that has it all … his popularity on the rise … but in ten years … he’ll feel empty inside
- Orkut: doesn’t speak English … and he’s not good enough to play the exotic angle to get dates
- Bebo: the off-campus student no one has heard of
- LinkedIn: he’s mostly talk and optimistic dreams but he has to work twice as hard to get the same marks as everyone else
- Xing: he’s a little awkward around the girls and he sometimes forgets to wear matching socks
- Plaxo: he talks a big, big game but he didn’t make the football team and he’s not on the dean’s list
Are You the Perfect Twit?
Chances are, if you’re reading this blog daily, you’re not, but if you know someone that is, there’s a well-funded e-commerce company in New York that wants YOU!
Check out this Craiglist posting for a Twitter Genius! It’s a hoot and a holler!
Web 2.0 Suicide … It’s a Good Thing
I enjoyed this recent post over on TechCrunch on how to Wipe the Slate Clean for 2010 and Commit Web 2.0 Suicide. Seems like a forward-thinking developer who was tired of living in public and sick of all the privacy theatre decided it was time to wipe the slate clean … and built the Web 2.0 Suicide Machine.
Just put in your credentials for Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, or LinkedIn and it will delete all your friends and messages and change your username, password, and photo so that you cannot log back in. There’s even a short video of the tool in action, which I’ve included below! It’s too bad that Facebook cut off access, but I’m sure some another forward thinking developer will find a work around soon enough!
And if you’re still not convinced you should unplug your web 2.0 life after reading this post on how marketers are using Facebook to find out everything about you using just your e-mail addresses (echoed in this CNN article) because the new Facebook privacy settings decrease your privacy by default, look at it this way. Unplugging from your social life online will leave you more time for your real life, which you’ve probably been neglecting.
Facebook at the Factory?
Sure! Why Not? While we’re at it we can get Plaxo for the plant, MySpace for the warehouse, and Back Orifice for the Office! After all, why shouldn’t we let our employees SuperPoke their buddies all day, flit away their day following their contacts’ twitter feeds, or hack into their supervisor’s computer … it’s not like they have anything better to do with their time! Right?
Needless to say I was outraged when I saw Facebook at the Factory: Manufacturing Must Become More like Social Media headlining over on the Supply & Demand Chain Executive site — because it’s such an idiotic idea. I’m faceless, spaceless, and twitter-free for a reason … and that reason is because these platforms offer zero value to a hard-working professional.
So I’m going to take a moment and point out the dumb conclusions the article reached … which were especially idiotic given that the writer(s) had access to a study with valid results and lots of information easily available through a Google search upon which to draw more realistic conclusions.
The article started by quoting a finding that said “62% of respondents want their ERP system to capture and record the knowledge of senior experienced engineers and professionals so that it becomes part of the corporate knowledge base”. That’s knowledge management, not social networking.
It then quoted the CTO of IFS who said “Enterprise 2.0 and social media tools are designed to draw information out of people, to get them to talk”. While this is true, it bluntly failed to mention what kind of information Social Networking sites draw out of people … their entertainment preferences, their personal preferences, and where they went to get blind drunk last night (with potentially embarrassing pictures they don’t remember taking). And what use does that information have in the daily operation of your business? That’s right. None!
Finally, it quoted the CTO of IFS who, correctly, said that web 2.0 tools like wikis, threaded discussion boards, and other features of social media will become common fixtures in enterprise software. That’s right, useful tools will become incorporated in enterprise software as time goes on. And Facebook, as of today, does NOT fall into that category.