One of the trends
in social media
is getting the community
to vote on new products
or book titles
or, in Obama’s case,
issues.
That’s a dumbass trend.
Why?
Because you’re then obliged
to act upon that vote,
or risk the ire of the community.
And who the hell is the community?
Are they working in your best interest?
No, they’re working in THEIR best interests.
For all you know,
the person pushing the vote one way
(and there are always people pushing
the vote one way)
is working for the competition.
I ALWAYS belong
to the competition’s community.
It is the best way
to gather information on the competition.
Wikinomics guru Don Tapscott
recently speaking at
The Empire Club,
suggested a better way
is to ask for input,
rather than votes.
Don’t have a number on the screen,
have individual comments
WITH no anonymous comments allowed.
Keep those folks accountable.
He reminded us
that democracy is NOT majority rules
because a cornerstone of democracy
is that the rights of the minority
is also protected.
Ask for input
but don’t put important decisions
up for a blind vote.