9. Beware of the new new thing
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“You mean you don’t tweet?” Do you recognise the astonished tone and the mixture of pity and contempt that crosses the face of certain online gurus when you make this (to them) mortifying admission? Never mind that the guru may have the limited experience and even more limited perspective that often goes with being a PFY (pimply-faced youth). Frequently, the lack of broad vision just adds to the missionary zeal for the topics he (or less often she) does know something about.
A few years ago, the question would have been: “You mean you don’t blog?” And in a few more years, it will be about some other new online phenomenon, probably with a name as silly-sounding as tweeting or blogging.
What is at issue here is not the particular technology in question. Rather, it is about championing the new mainly because it is new. And it is about seeing the new, new thing as the answer to every question.
So, the next time a PFY is breathlessly promoting the new, new thing as the answer to life, the universe and everything, take a deep breath and remember:
- Not every business needs every new thing
- Yes, Twitter (for example) can be useful, but not every business (or even a majority) should be tweeting endlessly
- Each new tool needs to be evaluated in the light of what it can do for your communication, with your target audiences
- Consider whether the extra work will achieve extra benefits for you, or will it just displace things you are already achieving from one channel to another
- To the man with a hammer, everything may begin to look like a nail
As State of the Net has shown, in the current issue, and over the last three years, there is a lot of value still in “traditional” new media, such as email and the web, as well as in newer technologies
Back to contents of State of the Net issue 15
