Brad Rourke

Some Contrarian Bullets

Just a few contrarian bullets . . . thoughts, complaints, and predictions:

  • There is a difference between a “brand” and a “label” — many label when they think they are branding.
  • There is a difference between “being online” and “having a brand.”
  • Young professionals tend to overvalue their intelligence, and undervalue others’ experience.
  • Few people want to have a “conversation” with a business or institution.
  • Twitter will fizzle out because it requires too much insider knowledge (e.g., using the @ sign to address people), but it may remain a useful platform to publish into other streams.
  • URL shorteners must go away, they are an open door to abuse and rely too heavily on user’s good will.
  • MySpace should not be counted out, if only because Rupert Murdoch knows how to make money.
  • Now that it includes just about everything, I would pay a yearly fee for Facebook.
  • AOL was ahead of its time and could have been Facebook.
  • Facebook does, however, need to fix its email system.
  • Much as I am a fanboy, I can’t imagine Google succeeding at anything in the social space.
  • In five years, geeks will say, “Remember Wave?”
  • Linux will always be the future of operating systems.
  • The government will try to regulate Facebook like a utility.
  • Too often, leaders address poor execution with new systems (e.g., the “Homeland Security” department).
  • Many organizations do not need to exist in their present form.
  • We will look back on the oughties as “the decade of the police procedural.”

Got a contrarian bullet? Let me know in the comments!

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2 responses to “Some Contrarian Bullets”

  1. Andrea Jarrell

    In a word “brilliant.” So true and succinctly articulated.

  2. Jon Loomer

    “Nothing online is really private.”

    Exactly! Do the people who complain about privacy also have a blog? Have a Myspace or Twitter account? Regardless, their name and information is all over the internet. The “public” information that Facebook gives out (if you restrict your privacy) is now worse than anything already readily available about you.

    It’s very popular to have an extremist’s negative reaction right now about Facebook. I still don’t understand why. I’ve always used my privacy settings and continue to do so. While I may not be the typical Facebook user, shouldn’t those people most concerned about their privacy — the ones making the biggest noise — be channeling the energy they spend on complaining to instead manage their privacy settings? They really aren’t that difficult to control. And once you get the hang of it, it’s very valuable to use.

    While Facebook could do a better job of communicating, they haven’t been completely irresponsible in this area. In fact, I think they’ve done as well as can be expected — problem is that on this scale, they need to do better than expected. That said, they can’t really win. If they make changes, people complain. If they don’t make changes, people complain. If they explain their changes, people complain. Yet Facebook continues to grow. However, I do think that the popularity of deleting accounts may now catch up to Facebook — not because they necessarily deserve it, but the misinformation and “fun factor” of kicking the big guy when it’s down is taking over.

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