Verdino points me to an absurd article (I'm not linking to it for obvious reasons...it's reprinted below) in PC Magazine by Lance Ulanoff about MySpace, Twitter and Second Life (etc.) being doomed i.e. social media being bubble 2.0 (in a nutshell)
Now I could call Lance (who? my point exactly) a tosser; a wanker; an idiot etc....but I won't. I could get all upset about this clearly desperate and misguided attempt at trying to understand how the world has changed by being a serial naysayer...but again, I won't.
I realize now that this is the kind of schlocky sensationalist "journalism" solely designed to prolong the destruction of the rainforests in favor of short-lived (toilet) paper called magazines.
Oops, did I just fly off as a misunderstood blogger? Perhaps I tied the belt of my gown too tight or perhaps the damp in my basement is finally causing my brain to turn to mush. Perhaps I should just go on a drunken tirade in Second Life or send some random messages about what I'm doing right now in the form of a Tweet. Perhaps that will help me calm down.
Because here's the thing. Lance Ulanoff has most likely never set foot in Second Life. Lance Ulanoff has most likely never set up a Twitter profile or sent a tweet about a story idea or a search for an expert opinion on obscure topics such as...oh....well.....'er how about Second Life, MySpace or Twitter. Lance Ulanoff has most likely never even visited MySpace.
This kind of crap has really got to stop. You see, Lance is a smart "journalist". He knows that people like me will play right into his hands and rant, rave and rage against his stupidity. He knows that people will soon forget about him because dumb pieces like this one in Forbes will be around to replace his drivel. And he knows that should any of these new marketing approaches take a step backwards (for whatever reason), he'll be dancing on the graves singing Halleluyah (apologies to Monty Python)
For what it's worth, let's isolate a few of Lance's pearls:
Second Life could just as easily be the first to go. go where? are you referring to being acquired in which case, nothing says failure quite like a hundreds of millions of dollars No one believes
its reported participation numbers anymore you mean more people than are on Amazon.com at any given point in time?, even though big companies,
such as Circuit City and IBM, have built virtual stores (and Playboy
is jumping in with both, er, feet this month). Some individuals are
even claiming to make real-world money in there, but are they really?
Frankly, I think Second Life is the equivalent of a virtual con. much like convincing people to buy cigarettes through sexy slim models or any other game or any other anything that people spend voluntary time and even money in exchange for value and/or a consumption experience
There's no doubt that it's enjoyed startling growth in the last year
and a half much like your magazine, right?, but that was driven, for the most part, by the laudatory
press and media coverage it received from magazines like yours until such time the wind changed direction and with it your spineless coverage. Companies herded like sheep to
the platform much like any other medium before it, because they believed the hype. So did users. But reality
is finally starting to trump perception. Companies' virtual stores sit
empty this has been addressed if you were paying any attention, and there's no way they can measure if they're building any
additional brand recognition simply by being there. aaah measurement - let's compare Second Life to TV shall we. Let's hold SL to a higher standard than TV while we're at it.
Of course, they're not.
Twitter's demise will certainly come before we hit 2011. That's in 4 years time. So you're basically saying that Twitter will be around for another 4 years, which will surely be yet another sign of utter failure. It's the
perfect example of Internet flash paper, and I suspect it will shine as
brightly and briefly as this favorite magician's gimmick. I'm singling
out the site, which revolves entirely around people's random notes
about what they're doing and thinking at any given moment, that's the origin of Twitter, but it has quickly being used for a variety of experimental applications such as I did with live call-ins on Across the Sound because of a recent John C. Dvorak column
.
He somewhat insanely says that these random postings should be saved
for posterity. Dvorak is too smart to believe this, so I'll assume his
entire column was tongue-in-cheek. No one is going to save these random
posts about nothing. Twitter is popular now because the Web cognoscenti
some call these people influencers are using it. This bunch of eggheads prides itself on irony and
witticism. They treat the site like some sort of ongoing haiku contest.
Well, folks, I have a haiku for you:
Goodbye, bubble, and
So long, overhyped nonsense
Till the next "Big Thing."
Dude - at this point, I'm thinking you're a genius as there's no way [much like your hat-tip to Dvorak] you actually believe this is a bubble per se. For what it's worth, I believe the next big thing is NOW. Also check out this post of mine which talks about Bubble 1.0 versus your 2.0 notion.
Anyway, I've ranted way too long and I suppose I should apologize for any personal insults slung Lance's way. Lance - you're invited to our panel discussion next week in Second Life. If I had "met" you sooner, I would have asked you to moderate. And if you don't know how to "get in" to Second Life, feel free to call on a crayonista to spoon-feed you on your journey.
Peace my brother.
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