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Having read many of the criticisms leveled at Sarah Lacy in the wake of her Mark Zuckerberg interview at SXSW (video), I offer this quick thought. In fact, it’s not even mine. Nor is it new, some dead famous guy said it.
“It is not the critic who counts, nor the man who points how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly…who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at best, knows the triumph of high achievement; and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”
Theodore Roosevelt
Offering my own analysis of the interview itself (which I did watch, though I wasn’t there) would be beating a long-dead horse. The point here is, for the mistakes made, Lacy was the one in the arena. While there’s value in constructive suggestions and lessons learned for improvement, outright (and sometimes mean-spirited) criticism reveals character.
It’s easy to take pot-shots from the sidelines. In some circles, it’s even cool. It’s much harder to get in the arena and put your neck on the line. I’ve played both roles, as I’m sure many of you have. It’s my constant aim to criticize less and do more. Is it yours?
Yesterday, Zach Davis of FQuick/Bill Jacobs (an XNet customer) dropped by our office with a handful of Auto Show passes. We can’t use them all, and I’d like to give away our last two. So, if you want to go to the Chicago Auto Show (last day is Sunday), you might be in luck.
How do you get these two passes? Write a comment to this post by the end of the day Thursday, and in 100 words or less, tell me why you should be the recipient of two free Chicago Auto Show passes. Sometime this evening, I will pick one of the comments to be the recipient. I am the sole judge, and my decision is final. Your entry can be serious or funny, I’ll pick the one I like the most and give that person the tickets.
If I select your entry, you must make arrangements with me to pick them up. I will be at XNet in Lisle during business hours on Friday, and in the Naperville/Wheaton area on Friday evening.
I’m going down to the show with a buddy on Saturday morning. If you’re there and want to meet up, shoot me a call or a text!
This Sunday I was out to lunch with four friends. All but one were on Facebook, and of us four “Facebookies,” three of us had added the My Aquarium application and were actively sending fish to each other along with funny notes. So, what did we do? We talked about the last couple days’ activity. I felt awkward though that one person was left out, so I said to my friend “Mary,” “you really should get on Facebook.”
She replied that she just didn’t get into “those things,” (by that she meant social networks like Facebook and MySpace). While I can see why someone wouldn’t get into MySpace (heh heh), Facebook has really helped me stay connected to (and reconnect with) people I would have lost track of over the years. It’s really enhanced my social life, and it’s easy to use to boot.
So why isn’t Mary (and others who share her disinterest) on Facebook? I’ve boiled down peoples responses to two categories:
- People who don’t get into social networking for one reason or another (I think my friend fits this category)
- People who are intimidated by computers and/or the Internet
So, why do I care? Does it really matter? (Short answer: to me it does)
I want an easier way to coordinate social activities with my primary social group, the twenty-somethings at my church. The primary way we let everyone know what’s going on is via email to our group. Since my church is low-tech as a whole (they grasp email), people are always getting left off of group activity email blasts. We’re a fairly active and tight-knit bunch, so when people get left out multiple times in a row, it becomes an issue and feelings get hurt, even though there was no ill intent.
I’d say 80% of us are Facebook friends with each other. It would be very easy to create a Facebook group called “Young Adult Lifegroup” and broadcast events there. If you want the updates, join the Facebook group (and here’s instructions how and an invite). This prevents people being left out on the email CC and gives one central, easy to use location for group “stuff.”
I floated the idea a month ago and it was shot down. I’ll probably float it again soon. It looks like I’m an early adopter getting frustrated waiting for the late adopters :-)
For people who just aren’t into social networks, it would be great if Facebook had a feature that let you subscribe to a group via email; news items, events, photo gallery notifications, etc. This feature would go beyond the “invite people not on Facebook via email” feature when creating events, instead someone could sign up for email updates from a group if they received an invitation code. That would be cool, and it would let the 80% use a centralized site to manage their events and meta-discussion with the group.
The idea of social networking among real-life contacts is a very attractive proposition. It documents and makes it easy to communicate a shared culture, and it provides a one-stop place to get the word out about activities and events. But, some people haven’t taken the plunge yet and aren’t on Facebook (by far the most useable and attractive social network right now). Pretty soon, I see a new form of “digital divide,” those who are connected to their in-person friends via social networks, and those who are not. Call it the “social network divide” or “social OS divide.”
The questions I’m left with in the case of my friends are:
- What is keeping the stragglers from signing on board?
- If they’re intimidated, what can be done to make them feel more confident?
- If they’re just not into it, where’s the motivation to get them into it?
