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It's weird that you claim to make predictions about what will succeed and what will not while simultaneously deriding an industry segment you claim to avoid. W

It's weird that you claim to make predictions about what will succeed and what will not while simultaneously deriding an industry segment you claim to avoid. What makes you an expert, and can you share this insight with us? I, one for, would benefit greatly as I would no longer have to spend hours dissecting UI's, measuring user behavior, satisfaction, engagement level and repetition fatigue; not to mention actually doing the work of designing, building, deploying and maintaining applications that enable people to share and communicate without, you know, being dragged into it by their friends. With your methodology I could perhaps save myself a lot of trouble and just focus on my hobbies. Like drinking.

kemayo 15y ago
He didn't say it would fail overall. He said it would fail for him and his friends. That is a judgement he is totally qualified to make; a demographic whose desires he is very much in touch with. I think it's very legitimate to say "I don't normally like social media; so far I like Google Plus; if Google Plus becomes more like Facebook I will like it less".
- jsavimbi 15y ago
  I read it to say "I don't use anything unless my friends think it's cool and I'll rapidly abandon something if they don't because I don't want to be an outlier." That's a very narrow view of the world and it's my opinion as both a vim user and a software developer that one actually needs to use and tinker with applications before developing an informed opinion with research data that validates. Otherwise you're just bloviating.
  - kemayo 15y ago
    I think that social applications like Facebook or Google Plus are a fantastic example of a case where "my friends all use it" is the primary draw, though. They exist so that you and your friends can interact (and view ads, of course). So if your social circle refuses to use Social Platform X you have very few reasons to use it yourself. Regardless of how silly you may think the reason you friends have for avoiding it, the fact of their avoidance is enough to make it not particularly useful to you. Sure, you should still understand the reason that other people want to use these platforms. But, having understood that, there's no reason to use them if they aren't actually of use to you.
gojomo 15y ago
To be fair, he said "with me and my circle of friends". I accept user 'bcl' as an expert on himself and his friends.
bcl 15y ago
I would summarize my demographic as vim loving software developers ;)

kemayo 15y ago

He didn't say it would fail overall. He said it would fail for him and his friends. That is a judgement he is totally qualified to make; a demographic whose desires he is very much in touch with. I think it's very legitimate to say "I don't normally like social media; so far I like Google Plus; if Google Plus becomes more like Facebook I will like it less".

jsavimbi 15y ago
I read it to say "I don't use anything unless my friends think it's cool and I'll rapidly abandon something if they don't because I don't want to be an outlier." That's a very narrow view of the world and it's my opinion as both a vim user and a software developer that one actually needs to use and tinker with applications before developing an informed opinion with research data that validates. Otherwise you're just bloviating.
- kemayo 15y ago
  I think that social applications like Facebook or Google Plus are a fantastic example of a case where "my friends all use it" is the primary draw, though. They exist so that you and your friends can interact (and view ads, of course). So if your social circle refuses to use Social Platform X you have very few reasons to use it yourself. Regardless of how silly you may think the reason you friends have for avoiding it, the fact of their avoidance is enough to make it not particularly useful to you. Sure, you should still understand the reason that other people want to use these platforms. But, having understood that, there's no reason to use them if they aren't actually of use to you.

gojomo 15y ago

To be fair, he said "with me and my circle of friends". I accept user 'bcl' as an expert on himself and his friends.

bcl 15y ago

I would summarize my demographic as vim loving software developers ;)