Commentary

#Meaningless #Crap

Everybody should have a voice -- I get that. Thank goodness that the Web and social media have democratized publication. Because of that, the power to say what’s on our mind is just a click away. From this power, great things have and will continue to come -- the overthrow of tyrants, the quest for truth, freedom from oppression. I’m pretty sure those are all good things. Important things.
 
But I’m also pretty sure the signal-to-noise ratio in social media content is infinitesimal -- verging on undetectable. For every post that moves humanity incrementally forward, there are thousands that drive us over the brink into mind-numbing mediocrity.
 
For example, Justin Bieber has 51 million followers and has tweeted 26,508 times. That, in case you’re wondering, has produced 1.35 trillion “Bieberisms,” or 193 little Bieber-tweets for every man, woman and child on planet Earth. Here’s one of his finest: “Put your heart into everything you do.” Perhaps the Biebs would be better served by using his head a little bit, too. But no matter -- he tweets on, sharing his special brand of wisdom. No wonder over 70% of all tweets never get read.
 
And for God’s sake, stop hashtagging everything! First of all, it only belongs on Twitter. It’s not a universal punctuation mark. And it doesn’t belong in front of every word of your post! If you’re writing about something that falls under a topic category that people actually care about, then by all means slip a hashtag in there. For example:
 
“Witnessing special forces retaking capital building in Kiev - #ukrainecrisis”
 
Or:
 
“Just discovered key gene in early detection of Alzheimer’s - #alzheimerresearch”
 
See how it works? You’re adding key content to a topic that people care about and may actually be searching for on Twitter. This is how not to use hashtags:
 
“Off to a funeral #selfie #zebra #sunglasses #bling #hairdown #polo #countrygirl #aero #dodge #ram #cute”
 
All I can say is #shoot #me.
 
The other problem is that with this diarrheic explosion of content flooding online, it becomes impossible to sift through all of it to find things that are truly important. Generally, most content filters use one of two criteria: recency or popularity. 

Recency is fine, if you’re looking for breaking news. It’s a clearly understood parameter. Popularity, however, has some issues. The theory here is that the wisdom of crowds can be relied on to push the best content to the top. But that’s not really how the wisdom of crowds works.

Just because something is popular doesn’t necessarily mean it’s good. And it certainly doesn’t mean it’s important. All too often, it just means that it panders to the lowest common denominator. Do we really want that to be our filtering criteria? Should Kanye West and "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" mark our cultural high-water mark?
 
One last rant. “Epic” is not the right adjective to apply to concert tickets, Saturday nights at the club, bowls of chili, or when incorrectly combined with the verb “fail,” your company’s Christmas party. According to this post, “the word epic should only be used to describe two or three things, ever. In fact, here’s a comprehensive list of all things epic: 1. Oceans 2. Lengthy Narratives 3. The Cosmos.” That’s it.
 
Feel free to retweet if you wish. Or not. No one will read it anyway.

advertisement

advertisement

>
7 comments about "#Meaningless #Crap".
Check to receive email when comments are posted.
  1. Kathryn Gorges from Kathryn Gorges Courses, April 10, 2014 at 11:53 a.m.

    Fun rant, Gord :) I think you've put yourself into the 'mature person' category with this... hashtags have become a way to express the real feeling behind a post on instagram, twitter, Facebook, etc. Kind of the subtext in a way... and breaking all the rules of language has also become part of the fun of social media at the leading edge.
    I enjoyed your post though... rant on! Someone has to say some of this stuff and you do a great job of writing it.

  2. Brooks Perry from RPA, April 10, 2014 at 11:59 a.m.

    I love a good rant as much as the next curmudgeon, but I agree with Kathryn... #overthehill. And to your "one last rant," I say sir, you have never experienced a Phish show... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phish_festivals#Big_Cypress

  3. Carol Lewis from Riverton Media LLC, April 10, 2014 at 11:59 a.m.

    #Thank #you #Gord!: "No wonder 70% of Tweets never get read." And, #really: "One last rant. “Epic” is not the right adjective to apply to.........!!!!!"

  4. Ari Rosenberg from Performance Pricing Holdings, LLC, April 10, 2014 at 12:14 p.m.

    You have written some terrific columns over the years Gord, this one is a notch above -- thanks I am still laughing and yes your point rang through loud and clear

  5. Paula Lynn from Who Else Unlimited, April 10, 2014 at 3:07 p.m.

    More proof people don't have enough to do.

  6. Dana Todd from SRVR LLC, April 12, 2014 at 2:44 p.m.

    Congratulations, Gord. You just became Andy Rooney. Oh, how I've missed you. :-)

  7. Maarten Albarda from Flock Associates (USA), October 21, 2014 at 2:53 p.m.

    Great #ranters #think #alike!

Next story loading loading..