Social Media Getting Dumbed-Down by “RSS Ricochet”
I don’t get it.
If you can update everything from everywhere, what is the point of having multiple lifestreaming tools? I feel like lifestreaming and social media are going through the same metamorphosis that AT&T did with the Baby Bells back in the 80s. Bell got endlessly subdivided like a loft condo, then slowly morphed back together into – you know it – AT&T.
What I Mean by Facebook Connect Syndrome
We’ve now come to the point where every tool updates every other tool, until you can’t tell where one begins and the other ends. Don’t believe me? Take a look.
Your blog feeds to FriendFeed via RSS.
Friendfeed updates Twitter.
Friendfeed also updates Facebook.
Facebook updates Posterous.
You tag your post in Delicious
(rinse repeat)
You Digg or Reddit said post
(rinse repeat)
While you’re doing the above,you listen to a song on Last.fm.
Last.fm updates:
Twitter==>Updates Facebook
FriendFeed==>Updates Facebook
Posterous==>Updates FriendFeed
and once a week Tumblr via Yahoo Pipes
…and the knee bone’s connected to the thigh bone, now hear the word of the Lord….!
Lest all you cross-posters out there get you panties in a bunch, I’m as guilty of what I call “RSS Ricocheting”© as anyone.
So What Is the Problem and Who’s To Blame?
I blame Facebook Connect. I’ve resisted hitting that button that everyone thinks is the salvation of social media as much as I can. Why?
1.The RSS Ricochet© doesn’t take your audience into account.
Personally, I use Facebook as a digital family/high school/college reunion, primarily. Honestly,my parents really don’t care that Twitter is adding a retweet function soon. So I try to keep my Facebook content in the middle of the road. True you can create all these lists to hide things, but does it make sense to use a tool if you have to turn around and hide half the stuff?
2. I Still Don’t Trust Facebook Security
I know FB’s strategy is to keep you inside their compound, but they still have far too many security “escapes” for me to be comfortable letting them access my entire online footprint.
3. If You Try to Dance Every Dance, How Do You Stand Out?
When I was in high school, if there was a concert or school dance I thought I just HAD to go to or I’d die, my aunt would say “You can’t dance every dance, baby.” I think the same thing holds true if you are a business or social media practitioner. Yes you want to have a demonstrable social media “footprint”. You don’t want to do so at the risk of coming off desperate. Some social media luminiaries remind me of toddlers yelling “me too me too!” As soon as SporkToad Beta launches, they are all over it, no strategy, just “me to! me too!”. (if you just freaked out because you never heard of SportToad Beta, I just made it up)
Okay I’m done writing, and I’m DYING to hear your thoughts/reactions. Hit me up in the comments and give me your views on this. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go share this on Twitter.