Steve Rubel is the man. I’ve been thinking of just how exhausting it is to keep track of all the new betas, web 2.0 startups and the like, and once again, he said it best:
We’re a million monkeys running on treadmills, chasing the latest banana.
He’s exactly right. Right now the web seems absolutely chaotic with a million monkeys creating blogs, tools, and companies, and they’re all doing so at the speed of light (or at least the fastest speed possible for a monkey).
In one sense, this is great. People are excited about the possibilities new technologies are creating, and the entrepreneurial spirit is spreading like a virus. On the other hand, there are just too many services out there competing for attention. Every time one app or service stands out, new competitors pop up as the next _____ killer or _____ clone. Every myspace has a facebook. Every twitter, a pownce.
The one thing that really stands out to me is the duration of attention and the speed of change (okay, maybe that’s two things). What’s hot today will be stale next week, and a footnote next month. Things like myspace follow a curve of 1) beloved 2) something that will completely change the game 3) a target 4) passe 5) a dinosaur.
And that’s in the space of a few months.
In his article, Steve points to Brian Reich’s idea of Shiny Object Syndrome- the idea that we aren’t focused on how we’re using technology and for what purpose, but instead, we are interested in whatever is new.
He also says something that makes me smile:
The most interesting action is in sociology. In other words, how does technology change our culture and how we interact with media, the web and each other – and to what end?
Finally. Someone makes me believe that my sociology degree was worthwhile.
One final gem from Steve’s post deals with how the business monkeys are trying to leverage the new shiny objects, and how they often miss the point:
In fact, I advise marketers not to invest too much time in creating “a Facebook strategy” as much as they don’t have “an NBC strategy” or “a New York Times strategy.” Instead, I encourage them to people watch, learn and then plan based on their audience and the big picture.
Excellent post, Steve.
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