Brit social computing expert, Euan Semple, is someone whose opinion I respect. He produces amazing material about the relevance of social computing in business and is always on mark. And now, my estimation of Euan has been ratcheted up another notch. He has just Twittered the following:
thinking nielsen has lost the plot http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6653119.stm
And people say Twitter’s 140 character limit can’t convey meaning!
Euan is talking here about Jakob Neilsen’s assertion, among other things, that social computing sites are the “latest fashion” and that:
“Most people just want to get in, get it and get out,” said Mr Nielsen. “For them the web is not a goal in itself. It is a tool.”
I’m sorry Jakob, but frankly, on social computing you’ve missed the boat completely. It used to be that you were the go-to guy on all things usability and web punditry, but it looks like you’ve exceeded your use by date. You’ve utterly failed to realise that today, being on the web, in a community, collaborating or socialising is exactly the goal of very many people from teens to seniors.
Neilsen is right on matters of usability. It is an important consideration and often, it is done badly.
As someone who works with the web all day, every day, I see it. People want to use the web to connect and belong. To be with people (albeit virtually). Yes, the web is a tool, but it’s also rapidly becoming the third place.
Jakob, you need to come join us in the 21st Century.
