DISQUS

We've all seen the by now classic video, "What if modern marketers created the stop sign?" (http://is.gd/htbF -- worth it if you've missed it), which purports to be tongue-in-cheek but probably is dead on. The problem with oversegmenting, overthinking, oversponsoring and overselling our space is that we lose sight of what made the advertising inviting in the first place: its association with content that we find important, trustworthy, or pleasurable. Many people are making fine careers out of predicting where our eyeballs will land, or which messages will make which segment of a population stay or click through -- but ultimately it's about likeability and trust.

I trust the New York Times because I trust their standards; and they do some things better than anyone on the planet. There are some things that Twitter does better, for that matter. I trust Chris Brogan because for him, it's not about the followers -- it's about the thinking. While I agree that we all need to find ways for the Chris Brogans, the New York Timeses, and the Twitters of the world to evolve and thrive financially, is it really content marketing? I won't trust Chris less when he does pay for play; but I will trust his opinion less on whatever he's reviewing... and that's the point. There has to be some middle ground.

I echo Steve (and his parallels with Facebook and its Beacon debacle) -- that advertising and the Internet isn't broken so much as it's not working... yet.

The mimed Jets-Sharks made my day. But the clowns almost ruined it by de-miming. Still, only in SF. Thanks for the video and the post!

This is a great post - thoughtful and honest. I have pondered this question a lot in the last year, mostly because I can't bring myself to delete the late Marc Orchant (@mochant on Twitter) from the social networks where we were connected. It sounds odd, but I like having him there -- and I like remembering him, wondering what he'd say about any given topic.

Ironically, his last posts were about trying to delete all traces of himself from FB in protest over Beacon -- but as you say, in cyberspace you can live on for quite a while whether or not you meant to. Maybe not every family would want a public place to grieve this way -- but the community and connections afforded by the Internet are generally very healing (minus trolls of course); maybe better that than "Error 404: File Not Found."

I was surprised to find that most people I talked to liked them, too. People seemed to genuinely enjoy seeing Bill's humorous side, or at least his ability to laugh at himself.

I agree that the Bill/Jerry ads were memorable, even if they didn't have a lot to do with PCs...I felt they were headed that direction. As for the, "most celebs use an iPhone" argument offered above... a lot of iPhone users I know are using their iPhones as 2nd phones or very expensive digital photo frames, and reverting to Blackberries and N95s while they wait for the bugs to get worked out. Just sayin'.

I really liked Professor Felton's comment on users building functionality wherever developers denied it; and I don't know what you have to do with Bug, but I am a total fan, awaiting their new buildable systems. Thought they were the coolest thing at CES.

Agreed. I have developed Diggophobia just from the few friends I *did* get on Digg; I pretty much had nothing in common with them - except for the few journalists/tech bloggers and SM people I actually knew in real life. I don't go to Digg much anymore, except at friend's requests. Hope you post on the new recommendation engine as well - I guess I haven't been paying attention! Will watch for updates.

I agree; and @Corvida (oops; sorry, Twitter's down - http://shegeeks.net) also shares a fairly balanced perspective on this. I've been a bit surprised by the bandwagons of Cassandras forecasting Twitter's doom. It's a web app, hello -- and as Cyndy points out so eloquently, its true value lies in the relationships, the conversations, and the discoveries I couldn't make on my own; my problem is, sometimes I don't know whether some of those conversations came about because I followed them, or they followed me. Hopefully it will sort itself out.

So interesting. I am still ambivalent about location-based services: E-Z Stalk? Or convenience? Still, will be checking in to your blog and tweets to see if your enthusiasm stays at this high level. Have fun!

Sometimes, it's the paradox that makes the most sense (if you want friends, don't care so much what people think, etc.)... I loved this post, Micah. And it came at a great time. Thanks.

Who knew you were so talented? But then, with Twitter going down so often, you maybe have more time on your hands?

Still... most cool.

I agree that geographic balancing is not a zero sum game; that it may even be a Nash equilibrium. What I find interesting in the balancing of wealth, rights, and culture -- and as Rob points out so aptly, optimism -- is responsibility. What financial and cultural rules do we all play by - the ones we used, or the ones we need now?

And now I'll always think of you at 5:00 a.m. on April 1st, too.

Proud to know you.

Well, late to the conversation as usual... but saw this post and it's so thoughtfully written; you've given me something to ponder. The analogy is apt, even for those of us who watched the beginnings of Twitter from the sidelines. I definitely get who the Bonos and Jaggers are; and it's a bit of a headspin, following all the @s. I'm trying to figure it out as I go along - and now I'll be figuring it out wondering if it's time to "go home and put my headphones on..."

Thanks for the great blog,
Merredith

Okay, Mashable -- normally you're so smart and I trust you, but given the chance to offer Web companies you can only come up with Google and Facebook or a small startup? Hello? Looks like maybe you were sitting on one of Google's heated, padded toilette seats when you thought up this poll!

As if ...

As if anyone cared about what Plaxo does in the first place, let alone on OpenSocial. Let's see, who's on OpenSocial? Oh, yes, Google and Myspace. Oh, okay. Credit there. But the rest are all has-beens, loser turkeys or wannabes with an inferiority complex to, let's face it, Facebook.

Sort of like, let's face it, Mashable and TechCrunch.

Okay, except that Cashmore isn't as much of a jerk as Arrington.

As far as I know.
Anyway, spare us the OpenSocial and can we please just get back to, oh, ClosedPrivate or WhoCares?