Malcolm Gladwell Correct!

Oh my God, I think I agree with Malcolm Gladwell? First though we must note that this interview contains a wonderfully telling Gladwell moment. Gladwell says that we need to look at the consequences of social media. Great, can you give me an example, he is asked. And then he pretends to give an example which isn’t an example at all, but a vague theory. Okay but that is a quibble! Because then there’s this. “If I’m putting together a flash mob, that I want everyone to meet me in half an hour in Times Square, it’s really useful to have 100,000 followers on Twitter. If I want everyone to go to my website and buy my new book, it’s incredibly useful to have 100,000 followers on Facebook. If I want to start a political movement to overthrow a tyrannical regime, it may be less useful. If you follow me on Twitter, I do not own your heart. I may own your pocketbook momentarily. And I may own your attention for five seconds, but that’s it.” That’s what’s funny about the demands for a PLATFORM or a BRAND IDENTITY ONLINE for those who make things, like albums or books or macrame: those “social media relationships” just aren’t that deep or durable.