CapitalGig

In today’s Fortune Magazine, David Kirkpatrick asks ”Is Facebook worth your time?“ He argues that many adults probably won’t find utility in the social network and need a reason to sign up. 

One reason, he suggests, is the “news feed” which is a running list of what your friends have been up to since you last checked in.  Agreed, that’s pretty useful.  I value my friends, which means that I value their opinions and am interested in their activities.  So, for me, it’s a passive way to keep up with them in a fast-paced digital world.

For example, in my feed today I saw some terrific photos that friends uploaded from the Papal visit to the White House earlier this week, found out that 20 of my friends and I are all attending the same conference in June, saw a congratulatory note from one friend to another for a job well done, and learned about three new groups that had formed on issues where I have interest.

I recently saw an ad on Facebook asking viewers of NBC’s “Friday Night Lights” to sign an online petition to convince the network execs to change their decision to cancel the show.  As a fan, I have FNL listed among my favorites on my profile and assume the ad appeared as a result.  So, I obliged and added my name to the list of supporters. 

In addition to other online efforts to save the show, fans mailed in thousands of plastic footballs to the studio.  The network got the message and shortly thereafter, I was pleased to read about NBC’s agreement with DIRECTV to share production costs thus ensuring the show’s survival for a third season.  From the release…

In response to an evolving media marketplace and the changing needs of its advertisers, NBC Universal has created a more innovative, client-centric approach to its traditional Upfront presentation.

I  never would have known about any of that without Facebook.  Sure, this is a trivial example when compared to much more important global issues and I do agree that there are a lot of meaningless, fun and silly apps on Facebook (SuperPoke, I am looking in your direction).  I have certainly installed and uninstalled more than my share.  Read: Please, no more “Friends for Sale” or “Knighthood” invites!  However, I merely mention it to make the larger point that there is some utility there, as well.

Back to the question, “Is it worth it?”  As for me, the answer is yes.  Honestly though, I think the real answer depends on the user.  Kirkpatrick states the obvious here …

For the News Feed to work properly though, you need to have a fair number of Facebook friends and you need to regularly do things inside Facebook. And it is on that score that many adults fall down.

Of course, in order to benefit from the knowledge of others, one needs to know and engage with “others” (and not in a LOST sorta way!)

Seriously, nothing is useful if you don’t invest some time in it – whether it’s a face-to-face conversation, a phone call, a letter, an email or online in Facebook or Twitter. For anyone looking to connect, one needs to engage, find community and participate.

What he misses here is the movement toward social media aggregators (FriendFeed, Lijit, SocialThing) and OpenID that enables content to be shared between platforms and not limited to one site or the other. In this approach, the connection becomes more about the medium rather than the specific source site.

Kirkpatrick seems to criticize Facebook’s utility throughout the entire article, but concludes that for those looking to stay connected, it’s worth a “dive in.”

Well, it’s not just about diving in, you need to move your arms and legs in order to swim!

Despite my United Airlines snafu, I finally made it to Austin and had a couple productive days at SWSW Interactive (SXSWi).  However, I had to leave a little early for an offsite meeting in NY on a rainy Monday morning before the conference officially ended.  In fact, the music and film portion of SXSW - the highlight for most attendees - was just gearing up. 

On my way to the Austin airport, my cab driver remarked that I was leaving before all the real fun began!  Thanks.  So, I boarded my plane and started thinking about what he said and had to disagree.  I learned a little bit, met some great new people and actually had fun doing it.  

Not sure there were any groundbreaking new developments this year, but this was my first SXSW so somewhat hard to judge.  Having said that, I felt confident when I walked out of each discussion that I had a strong grasp of the material covered.  Wow, sounds like I am in college again.

The first session I attended was entitled ”Filching Design: When the Shoe Fits.” I really liked Luke Wroblewski’s (LukeW Interface Designs/Yahoo) presentation who showed various sites with similar designs and polled the audience as to whether they were “filch or fair.”  

For example, in April 2007, AOL’s new site looked strangely familiar to Yahoo! users.   Yahoo! was filched again (this one by Google is just plain blatant) when they launched a new page promoting Internet Explorer 7.  Google has since launched an updated IE7 page.  Then, in an amazing twist of irony, blogger Matt Cutts took Google to task over it but it was later pointed out that he failed to credit the author of his own Wordpress template design in exchange for use of the free download (btw, thanks again for freshblue, Robbie Williams). 

Of course, code can be filched, too.  Both desginers and programmers admitted to borrowing from each other and many agreed that the ability to share is one of the reasons for the rapid expansion of the Internet.   However, be sure to give credit where it is due.

I have never seen such widespread use of Twitter en masse and in real time as I did at SXSW.  Specifically, hundreds of tweets simultaneously dubbed Sarah Lacy’s interview with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg a “train wreck.”  I imagine that Twitter chatter and server load reached unprecedented levels that day.  Just brutal.

I also witnessed a similar reaction to a panel entitled “Social Marketing Strategies Metrics, Where Are They?” the day before.  The session really disappointed – about half walked out midway through.  As the Q&A began, many were still asking “Ummm, about these metrics… so where are they?”   The audience further responded by coughing loudly, and filling Meebo (the conference provided chatroom) and Twitter with nasty comments.  Ynema Mangum (aka “Y”) with BMC Software was the only saving grace. She was the only one who provided an actual case study with tangible results.  Unfortunately, it happened just before the end of the session so few people actually saw it.

Speaking of Twitter, my friend Mike told me about a unique tool called Twemes which allows users to categorize user tweets by theme.  For example, SXSW created a tweme related to the conference.  All one has to do is include “#sxsw” in a specific tweet and it automatically aggregates on the SXSW Twemes page.  

This is yet another in a long line Twitter companion sites/apps seeking to augment the microblog’s effectiveness, reach and influence.  Among my favorites: Twittervision (real time pop-updates), Twitterific (desktop software), and Twitxr (instant photo sharing).  Now, with GeoTwitterous, you can even find out where your Twitter buddies are when they post.  (Thanks for the tip, Kristine!)

All in all, a great trip and I really enjoyed meeting/catching up with Fleck, Patrick, Julie, Colin, Kristine, Jim, Andrew, Mike, Chris, Tristan, Rick and everyone else I may have forgotten.  Already making my plans for SXSWi 2009!

Related

Amazing conversations and meeting amazing people at SXSW Interactive (Just Write Click)

SCHED: SXSW 2008: almacy’s schedule

BarCamp Austin III