

The Social Media Bubble - mattjung
http://blogs.hbr.org/haque/2010/03/the_social_media_bubble.html

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ekanes
Some good points, but I beg to differ with, "If social tools were creating
real economic gains, we'd expect to see a substitution effect. They'd replace
— disintermediate — yesterday's gatekeepers."

User reviews on sites like Amazon or Yelp (current legal issues aside, I have
found it very useful) have largely disintermediated gatekeepers, to the
benefit of customers.

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necrecious
What is even worse is that the bubble also drains the talent pool to chase
social media startups.

Just take a look at recent batches of YC or Techstars.

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IsaacL
Started off with some good points, but then went on to adopt a definition of
"social media" that was so broad as to be useless. That too many Facebook
"friendships" might devalue reasonable friendships is a reasonable point.
Implying that Farmville, government censorship and trolls can all be blamed on
social media is just silly.

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zaidf
In absence of a clear definition of what you mean by social media, you sound
like someone from the traditional world in the 90s riling against the Internet
and the lack of proven ROI.

What exactly constitutes "social media" for you, Umair? You should define it
and draw the boundaries before you argue against such a vague concept.

The closest guess I can make is social media equals the notion of "friending"
for you. "Friending", I'd argue, is just a gimmick and not the core of social
media. So you are attacking the weakest part of a huge thing.

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Qz
Out of curiosity, what do you define as the core of social media?

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zaidf
More diverse and rapid flow of communication between people on the Internet.

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Qz
To me, that just sounds like what the Internet does by its nature.

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DenisM
The proper spelling of "social media" is "digital opiate".

While chemical drugs bind to the neural receptors abusing the basic reward
circuits of the neural system, digital drugs tap into basic human needs
originally designed to promote productive compatriot-ship. Both end up being
addictive and corrosive to a different degree.

Interestingly, digital opiate is encroaching on the niche previously filled
with religion. Religion, too, binds to basic needs of belonging.

