Hating Twitter Is Like Hating a Hammer

There's been a lot of social media hate thrown around lately, mainly by people who hear about services like Twitter in the mainstream press and then, once they poke around a bit, reject it immediately and with much gusto.

The bitter invective comes from all sides, including Jon Stewart, Gawker, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and this amusing cartoon.

And they all miss the point.

I Would Rather Eat Live Children in a Barrel Than Use a Power Drill

Twitter, like all social media, is a tool. It can be used to entertain, to share, to self-promote, to inform or to educate. Unfortunately, casual observers rarely see the breadth of its use because the bulk of its users aim low, and use the service in inane ("OMG drinking tea cuz I'm sooooo tired lol") ways. Thus, they conclude that these are the only ways the service can be used, and they choose to decry the service (and ALL of its users) as the worst humans on the planet while simultaneously distancing themselves from anything associated with it.

Explaining to these people that Twitter has also been used to exonerate innocents from jail, unite outsiders during a tragedy and raise life-saving donations doesn't always help. If anything, it only seems to exasperate them further -- as though they wonder, "If you CAN do all that stuff with Twitter, why DOESN'T everyone?"

But asking that question is like asking why every building isn't as gorgeous as the Taj Mahal. Trust me: it isn't the hammer's fault.

Image by Being Yogendra.

Has the Social Network Exodus Begun?

** UPDATES to this post at the bottom **

It's official: Michael Bailey is off MySpace and Facebook.

If you don't know Michael personally, you've probably never been to a social media function. I've known Michael to pop up at PodCamps from Boston to Pittsburgh, and at VON in San Jose and PME in SoCal -- all from his homebase in Missouri. For quite awhile, Michael has been one of the few active cross-coast socializers originating from the Midwest.

And he just admitted today that it's mostly bullshit.

Now, granted, Michael has been known to ruffle feathers. Michael is a pot-stirrer, like myself, and is often just as interested in seeing HOW people react as he is in WHAT they actually have to say.

But he brings up a great point, via Twitter:

When you lower the bar of what really matters and what is important, things like social networks crop up like weeds... You all know how to get ahold of me, you have my email address, my cell #, my address. If it matters, reach out, attach yourself.

Let's ignore, for the moment, the fact that not EVERY interaction requires a phone call or an email. (Michael himself would admit that.) The bigger question is:

What PURPOSE Do Social Networks Serve in our Daily Lives?

I myself never use MySpace for personal communication anymore. When I started blogging and Twittering, MySpace lost out in the time sink.

I've also not bothered to join Facebook. Surprisingly, I'm still alive, healthy and getting work.

LinkedIN? The most it's done for me is pepper my inbox with arbitrary questions from people I barely know, about job openings or tech issues. No real traction there.

Pownce? Never bothered.

Delicious? Haven't used it in years.

What Michael (and I) seems to be saying is: the signal-to-noise ratio (god, I love Web 2.0 buzzwords; perhaps they'll someday have a Smithsonian display all their own) is reaching the point of pointlessness.

I've heard many people, myself included, muse about the possibility of deleting their MySpace accounts, now that they've essentially become spam boxes. Perhaps there's a temptation to migrate to Facebook, or whatever else comes next.

But, for people like Michael, perhaps Seth Porges is right -- perhaps social networking is a trend that's about to end.

Do YOU still need YOUR MySpace account?

(Side note: In the earlier days of Twitter, when the system was even buggier [if that's possible], there was a massive one-day defection to Jaiku. It was led by Chris Brogan and Robert Scoble, two of the most influential social media voices. And, of course, when Twitter came back, so did everyone else.

Had they stayed gone, what would have happened to Twitter?

Michael Bailey isn't as much of an inciter as Scoble or Brogan, but his point is much more valid. I'm interested to see if there's a tipping point here, and how close Michael comes to it.)

** UPDATE (8:27 PM Oct 3rd): I just canceled my MySpace account as well. Odd, how a service I once spent so much time on is now something I avoid at all costs. Granted, when I started on MySpace (in 2004), I was single and the service was new -- two great hooks to occupy my time. But now, I have so many other ways to keep up with people, I just don't NEED MySpace.

I still have an STBD account there, though. Why? Because that's the only way some people watch our show, so as long as there's an STBD, there might as well be an STBD MySpace...

The Negative Drain Goes to #1

Interesting.

Two days ago, I wrote a post about The Negative Drain -- the "woe-is-me" attitude that derails the productivity of both the complainer and the listener.

Today, less than 48 hours later, that blog post is the #1 Google return for the phrase "negative drain". That's #1 out of 11,000+ citations in quotes, or 2,400,000+ without. Either way, I topped a Google search, with almost zero effort.

Granted, this obviously isn't a term a lot of people are using, but I find it astounding that I could capture the top spot of ANY Google search in such a short period of time -- especially when the term actually seems to be somewhat popular in engineering circles.

So... what do I do with it now? (If you answered, "register the URL," I'm one step ahead of you...)

Meanwhile, somewhere, a guy who makes a living at SEO is losing sleep....

Pittsburgh: Redefining "Overnight Success"

Bacn, circa early 1900s... Via Apelad
On Saturday, the term bacn was coined at PodCamp Pittsburgh 2.

By today, Thursday, the term is already the 14th most-popular term on Technorati.

It has appeared on Wired, CNet and the Washington Post websites, among others.

It's even been parodied in the buzzword-spawned (and "classic") Laugh Out Loud Cats comic (above).

Today, bacn-related interviews have already been given to the Chicago Tribune and NPR, with more (undoubtedly) to come.

All 5 days after the term was first used.

Sound familiar?

Two weeks ago, Pittsburgh vlogger iJustine created a video about her 300-page iPhone bill. That video resonated with tech-savvy surfers and, within days, iJustine was on the homepage of Yahoo, not to mention interviews on CNN, NPR, Fox News...

Some of you might be asking yourselves: what are the odds that Pittsburgh would be struck by back-to-back social media lightning bolts? As a 10-year PGH resident, I'd be inclined to agree.

However...

Earlier this month, it was revealed that Pittsburgh is the third "bloggiest" city in the country -- behind only Boston and Philadelphia -- which accounts for some of the city's ability to generate a meme wave.

Hmm...

For a city that perpetually seems to have an identity crisis, we sure are getting something right these days...

Ironic side note: Did anyone else notice that Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Boston, the three "bloggiest" cities, are also having a PodCamp in each of the next 3 months?