Problems with unlimited choice
On July, 31, 2011, Mashable published an article about social media overload opportunities for startups. The story by Nova Spivack was titled “Sharepocalypse Now: Why Social Media Overload Means New Opportunities for Startups”.
The article predicts that competition will increase as different social media outlets attempt differentiation. More choices create confusion among users.
Spivack believes that Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn are fundamentally different, and thus, should not be in competition. Spivack heralds a new era of social network chaos which will create new needs and opportunities for startups.
Information Overload
Spivack has termed the era of social network chaos as “Sharepocalypse”. Content is shared amoung friends online through many social networks. This fragmentation of information could lead to lost productivity according to Spivack.
A example is email. Many people keep old web email addresses which must be checked regularly. All social network outlets provide a way to share information using a new email address or a new page.
Keeping Updated
Imagine someone posts a video to a video sharing site like YouTube. Another person posts a picture to a picture sharing site. Yet another posts music content to a music sharing site.
People will need to share the content with some of their friends who are not a particular social network outlet. The old fashioned way was to send an email. The way of the future will be to automatically tell a poster’s friends.
Solutions
Cross-posting content is becoming more common. The issue will cross-posting is that social network sites become exactly the same. For example, differentiation disappears when people cross-post of Twitter and Identi.ca.
Another popular solution is to use only the specific popular social network outlets. For example, using only Facebook to stay in touch will close friends and family.
An extreme solution is to just quit using all social media outlets. Many people still prefer the company of close friends and family. Some people have deleted all their social media accounts and do other things like going out to meet people.
Conclusion:
Too many choices exist for social media outlets. Different companies offer the same features making differentiation difficult.
Precious time is wasted when people use social media outlets to share content amount online friends. Opportunities exist for new companies to help social media users share content optimally.
- Recommendations:
- Select a social media outlet that fits your needs.
- Be careful when sharing content as to not create an endless loop.
- Cut back on social media use if productive time is being wasted.