📚 node [[2004 09 13 viral needs more than just cool]]

layout: post title: Viral needs more than just cool created: 1095060521 categories:

  • Social Media
  • Web 2.0

I seem to be doing this a lot lately. I started commenting on Paul Kedrosky's "Is Nothing Viral Anymore?" and then it got really long. So I stuck it here.

I tend to agree -- cool isn't enough anymore. But part of it is the role of early adopters, I think. We've been suckered too many times, stuck in systems which at first blush seemed cool, but then betrayed us somehow. And not just us, but all the non-techies we convinced to come on board.

I seriously regret the series of <acronym title="Yet Another Social Network">YASN</acronym>s that I foisted on a handful of friends. And I won't make that mistake again. As Jeremy, Jon, and Mark point out -- we want an exit strategy.

So, viral still works. But it has to be truly compelling/cool, not too complicated/different, and consistently useful. Oh yes, and all those adjectives have to apply to the regular user, after the geeks have been through and dubbed it worthy.
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