I have long maintained that the biggest asset of any individual, brand or organization is ALWAYS is also its greatest liability.
Really. I really say this. A lot.
Don’t believe me? Just ask folks that work with me.
So now the rage in social media is “streaming.” That is not what I’m doing now. I’m blogging. And now I find out that blogging is passe. Twitter stream. Facebook stream. Posterous.
Experts say blogging is so … “slow and methodical.”‘
We don’t want that! What we need today is “fast and chaotic.”
While fast and chaotic may indeed be a more accurate reflection of everyday life … allowing a constantly changing free exchange of thoughts and information … there’s always a dark side.
For a funny but insightful look at this dark side I strongly encourage you to read Ed Docx’s article Twittering Fools, in the Utne Reader, reprinted from Prospect.
Tired of the mindless commentary from ordinary people who have less knowledge and expertise about subjects than my three-year-old grandson, he writes:
I don’t care what Andy from Cheadle thinks about the Gaza Strip, the ice caps, Manchester City, or even Cheadle. Nobody cares. Nobody except Andy, and presumably he already knows. When I turn on the radio or the television, or when I open a book or a newspaper, what I want is an expert. I want insightful commentary. I want stylistic elegance. I want eloquence. I want uninterrupted expertise.
And that’s the dark side of all the social media wackiness out there. I’d just as soon my life not be a Joycean stream of consciousness. Given everything going on out there I’m getting more and more attracted to things being a bit slower, a bit more methodical.
“Streams”. Stream this. Stream that.
But you’ve got to ask … streams of what?
Do I ever agree, Jerry. Leaves me wondering how much more instant can this gratification become.
All this tweeting reminds me of:
[Twitter] is but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more [Let’s hope so]: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
Slow and steady (still) wins the race.
Thanks Azin … A reminder that Twitter would never have suffered a Shakespeare. What a pity. The forums for real prose dwindle.
Thanks Jeff … happy to be slow and methodical.