The end is near- (or not)

So, while in the middle of taking a look at all things New York Tech Meetup (even if this requires admitting to myself that I am single, gawd), one of the realities of All Things Social Media has taken on reality.

It’s name is Hot Potato.  It reminds you of that game, Hot Potato, that we all (or at least I did) played in 3rd grade.  Or does it?

The essential premise- let’s list what we do, so we can find someone else doing the exact same thing.  let’s follow each other so that when I inform you of what I am doing, you know, you can do it with me.  Apparently the Usecase of the Moment is lifescrobbing- with umm, umm?

Lifescrobbing is now social media.  Informing everyone is now social media. Especially with your Iphone   Except it isn’t.

And this is where the words social media get depressing.  You see the failure of how all these trends, when added together, can just be a pile of fail, even if the web product is made well.

Choose what you want and how you want it to share- however, most people want to use a simpler medium to keep track of each other when it comes to text.  Prompts often take the voice out of the person.

Because of this, we all have weird limits about what we will be able to tell to the world.  Telling the world what one is doing right this second in order to find others and converse with them digitally, is awkward.  How will I hide my (pretend) binge ice cream eating habit that resurges in the heat?  How do I inform them of my (lack) of wry irony about the subject.  The prompt is limiting.

Further- I rather just eat the ice cream^ with you, in person.  I “get” the “sell” that this is supposed to be microconferencing around events- however, with only Iphones having an application (or being forced into the mobile website- which is bad for a “streaming” service to some degree), and with its deeply cute interface*, its the limited choices and ultra-cutesy prompt, Hot Potato doesn’t have the feel it should for gathering around some sort of “event” (beyond the fun, cute ones that seem to be integral to being young).  Besides, at the event, I don’t really want to be attached and looking away from you, my ice cream buddy.

It’s an application trying to hard to be every possible trend (barring video) – and when you try this hard, without thinking it through, you end up with a group of people who are going to ask, why?

Or, in other words, do I really need another app to say something that is being said for me, when I can give my voice out elsewhere how I want.  Further, do I need to be attached to events- when I want to be doing, rather than attached to the screen (already it is so hard to break away).

There won’t ever be an App for that.

Note: The pendulum can swing back- it may find its legs somewhere, somehow- as people find out how they are going to deal with social media in their lives.  A limited use-case isn’t bad if it is one that fits.

*Not totally against the cute-it’s just overdone now.  Move on people.

^Something chocolately if you must know- however, I prefer salads to be totally honest.