October 2009 Archives

Disagreeing with Seth Godin probably isn't a smart career move, but I've had the "accidental career" anyway. His recent blog post equating Twitter with high school is certainly humorous, but he's one social network off. Undoubtedly, Facebook most resembles high school.

Firstly, who "won" in high school? No one, not even the Duck (R.I.P. John Hughes).

Never-ending drama: High school? Check. Twitter? Not so much. Facebook? Looking up old classmates to see who has gained weight, has a receding hairline, married the class clown, is saddled with five kids in some flyover state, etc.

Worrying about what irrelevant people think: High school? Check. Twitter? Not so much. Facebook? The fan pages, the what <fill in the blank> are you most like "quizzes," the Fives, the polls, the RSVPs.

QED, Facebook is the social media app most like high school, not Twitter. Or is that junior high?

Um, wow. That's about my only, and intellectually insignificant reaction to hearing that President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The snark in me asks, for what? "Strengthening international diplomacy" according the official citation. Excuse me? When? He inherited one-and-a-half wars from his predecessor and said he would talk to Iranian leaders without pre-conditions. OK, and?

I don't know. He hasn't given a PowerPoint presentation, attempted to broker peace in the Middle East, or Northern Ireland, been under house arrest for nearly two decades, gone into war zones to provide medical assistance, for instance.

So, congratulations Mr. President, I think. With great honors, come great expectations.