Today, a colleague and I decided to "pull the plug" on an old web group that has been slowly wilting away from a lack of use. In spite of having almost 2,000 registered users, the dominant sound is the infamous chirping of crickets.
In these days of everything moving so fast the group had simply become obsolete, not so much in terms of subject matter, but in terms of format and how people use the web in 2020.
I could tell a long story about that, but it's not really relevant.
Instead, what I ended up reflecting on is the fact that sometimes you can do everything right and even build somewhat of a legacy, and still end up irrelevant and forgotten.
In terms of web venues, 21+ years is in the category of truly ancient. Google was only four months old when we started. It would be six years before twitter would come into existence. eBay was a brand new thing, and basically a really cool "online garage sale for collectors." Bill Clinton was President.
Taking the appropriate steps towards the group's ending made me think about the changing ways people use the online environment.
In particular, I was thinking about how I — as a content CREATOR — am also an avid content CONSUMER.
That's an important statement, particularly when you choose where you are going to put your content.
How so?
Consider how a "marketplace" with all sellers and no buyers is actually a pretty useless thing! It's one of the primary reasons pretty much all comers who have tried to take on giants like eBay, Amazon or Facebook have failed.
In the case of eBay wannabe's, the "pitch" is inevitably "lower selling fees," as a result of which thousands of sellers (most of them cheapskates, alas!) set up shop... only to discover that the "opportunity cost" of lower fees is actually a lack of buyers, because the lower fees mean the multi-million dollar marketing budget just isn't there...
In the case of Facebook wannabe's the problem becomes the infamous "first mover advantage" where the counter-argument becomes "But all my FRIENDS are on Facebook!" So you have to have something pretty special!
So maybe the new pitch becomes "We'll PAY people to post on social media!"
Well, whereas that's alluring, part of the problem becomes that pretty much everyone attracted to such an idea is a creator of content, but there are very few consumers, and the only real winners become those who already have huge external social followings.
One of the biggest lessons I find myself taking away from the demise of my little Mental Health support group is that the way we use information has changed tremendously over the past 20 years.
Although you'd think that social media would have made us more interactive, we have actually become more accustomed to "getting things served up on a plate." And although you'd think we'd be more connected than ever, people are actually less connected.
And so, our little old group ran out of "useful life" because people had to do too much to get to the information they needed. "Reading something" — as a format — has been replaced by memes and clickbait scrolling in a sidebar. Actual interaction has become swipe left/swipe right.
I suppose I could lament that, but ultimately it simply IS. Things change. The world changes. People change.
That IS the way of the world!
Thanks for reading!
Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation!
(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for this platform.)
Created at 20200617 22:48 PDT
0063/1291