After many years of using various social media solutions, applications and network concepts, I’ve arrived at the firm assertion that we need a better system not more systems. Every major web entity and start-up company is scrambling to build the next Facebook or Twitter. Everyone wants to be the next runaway success. The problem is that everyone is failing at it miserably.
Even the existing champions are doing a pathetic job at offering something truly revolutionary. So far was have contenders from just about every corner of the sphere that all offer something of the same without anything that embraces the true spirit of originality. The biggest problem is that each of these entities are trying to corner the market on your demographic data which is understandable. However, they are all offering the same nothing for your something.
Let’s take a look at reigning king of the nothing for something category; Pinterest. They may be the latest darling of the social sphere but they do have one major defect. The biggest problem here is that the owners of Pinterest are monetizing their service on the backs of their user base, while sneakily shifting all of the liability and due diligence to their users.
Honestly this sort of genius is astounding because never before has a company received so much while offering so little in return. However, what is going to happen when the first round of mommy bloggers, learns that their daytime hobby of sharing photos, are hauled into court landing them in personal hot water. Think about that cool photo you just pinned and the copyright own suing you and Pinterest just stands buy watching you pay your mortgage for their legal fees. Yes that absolutely correct; it turns out that you not Pinterest are liable for all damages and legal fees. Astonishing isn’t it?
The problem is not that Pinterest has duped their users into providing them with a potentially huge income stream. No it is that while reaping the benefits of this gain have completely deferred the blame and liability to those very same users that they are profiteering off of. This is quite a pickle they are building and one that will not sit well when people start actually conversing about it and that’s the point.
However this isn’t even the important part because when you think about the situation what has Pinterest actually given us? Yet another medium for sharing photos and don’t we already have enough of those? Honestly Flickr, Snapfish, Instagram, Google, even Twitpic all offer a way of sharing photos. The big difference is that many of these sites offer some means of really commenting about the photos and their source.
The reality is that human nature is predicated on sharing your opinion about a subject be that a photo or a story you read. Certainly, there are lazy ‘Like’ or ‘+1’ button clicking type of people out there but by and large they most love to comment. Sharing is an important aspect of our humanity.
None of the existing social networks offer the necessary avenue of conversation. None of these networks truly care about the social aspects of the medium. What they all really care about is your demographic data. Who are you? Where do you live? What kind of work you do. While this is important to focusing ad content in your direction it really is not what you signed up for.
We need a network that builds conversations allowing you to follow the voice and opinions wherever they may lead and not bottle it up in a single pathway. A better social network enhances the conversational experience and improves the flow of information. A better social network will not replace the lesser social networks but leverage what each is already capable of.
Conversations are analogous to rivers they flow, and ebb and meander where they will. They pick up new passengers as they travel downstream depositing new ideas on the banks of the many territories they pass by, ultimately and always reaching their final destination.
Related articles
- How to use new social network Pinterest as a small business (marketing.yell.com)
- Pinterest: Why should we be interested? [infographic] (nvarsos.wordpress.com)
- New Social Networks for Building Online Brand Presence (lookuppage.com)
- Social media can make miracles happen (jafdip.com)
- Empire Avenue and what it means to your influence (jafdip.com)
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