Slide.com has risen to prominence on the shoulders of their incredibly successful Facebook apps, one of which includes the "Fun Wall" app, where you can share media. A neat little functionality they've added is called 'Fast forward', where a piece of media embedded in this wall can be shipped off to your entire friendlist in a heartbeat.
Interesting bit of functionality that will no doubt fuel mind-numbingly broad propagation of some real garbage, but interesting in what it points to from a sociological standpoint.
When old 'what's his name' wrote Tipping Point (trust me, he doesn't need my PR - and btw - was everyone as disappointed as I by 'Blink'? couldn't pawn that sucker off fast enough) he talked about the power of the subset of individuals that act as influencer nodes on larger human networks.
To a degree, though I have 'close friends' and 'less-close' friends on my Facebook friend list, by virtue of that list, I have as immediate access to my primary friends as to my secondary, tertiary and 'oh hell, alright, I'll friend you" friends. At the push of a button my extended network of 'ambient intimates' gets the same piece of info. And then what happens?
While it's become trivial to distribute minutea (and there is probably a reason why I have fewer twitter followers than Facebook friends), it's non-trivial to parse it. "You're updates concern me less, as they concern me less", if you follow. Because what makes a connector valued is not the quantity of information they transmit but its quality, and perceived relevance to the recipient.
Slide.com's 'Fast Forward' feature allows ideas to spread quickly, like WOM on digi-crack. But for everyone who's wall has been choked with 'Muhammed' the f-ing bear or gotten that '6 degree' group sign up request (last count, 2MM members and counting), it may or may not be a good thing.
For marketers, before you try to get everyone 'Fast Forwarding' your latest legal-approved marketing blurbs, please ask yourself, "would I forward this delightful tidbit if it wasn't from the company that pays me?"
So true. It's killing Facebook-as-email too.
Posted by: Pete | 2008.01.06 at 01:45
I'd said something similar to some of my colleagues.
Thank you, I think I shall take a little bit off your blog (with credit of course) the next time I preach social networking to ad folks here.
(And oh, what's your twitter id? Will add you up. I searched for Renny Gleeson and Ouroboros and got two wrong hits)
Posted by: Ravages | 2007.12.25 at 05:14