Experience Your Own (Online) Death
There has been a lot of conversation recently–both online and off–about the coming demise of social networks (especially Twitter, which seems to be a favorite target these days). It’s amazing how our online lives have accelerated the pace of uncyber lives; the pace of the Twitter fad uptake, and then the fall in its perception, is a great example. Not only are famous people leaving the service, they are posting YouTube videos about it.
From all of the early hype about how SM will connect people at “deeper” level, and some online conversations about how SM is going to change the “brand ecosystem’ (whatever that is), it seems that a lot of people are discovering that SM isn’t living up to the hype. Some people are feeling both overexposed, intruded upon, and time-deprived. I wonder if what’s really at the root of this is the “apparent” connection that SM brings to people–the perception that you’re connecting when you’re really just sitting in front of your computer (or mobile device or whatever)–is perhaps getting old. People seem to miss the real connection with real people–who you can actually see, feel, and talk to.
And now, comes this; the social media suicide machine. One place where you can delete your entire SM life, from Twitter to Facebook to LinkedIn. And, btw, the video on it is hysterical. When I first heard about it, I thought that it was a clever diversion but then…Facebook refused entry to the suicide machine servers.
What? Really? From the people who promote the freedom that SM brings? Refusing access because they don’t like what the service does? Are they now going to start removing posts about how users are starting to dislike SM, too? Am I the only one who senses a level of hypocrisy?
Is this following a typical pattern? First early adopters, then a big fad, then The Plunge.
Perhaps, we’re all learning that SM is neither the communications the panacea nor evil incarnate, but that it has it’s place in the overall communications infrastructure we’re all learning to utilize. Does it sound kinda like email a few years ago? I think so.
