Participatory Currency and Bad Advice

by Richard Reeve on February 8, 2009

in @CCSeed

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Because I’ve been less active over the last ten days, I’ve had a bit more time to observe the data stream as it is unfolding.  Two observations which I’d like to share, both observations coming from Twitter, that might give you food for thought..

  1. Twitter is an amazing tool to discover places on the web through shared links, places you’d might never find another way.  There a the sense of immediacy that comes through a shared link on twitter that makes it surprisingly relevant to the group of people who click through to it.  A participatory currency get established that allows everyone present the opportunity to share about the experience.  To a small extent, it’s similar to the collective knowledge that readers of the New Yorker bring to the dinner party, without all the work.
  2. Twitter is full of bad advice.  I found myself taking note of just how much of it goes through my stream.  There’s bad advice on blogging, on finances, of activism, on charity giving, and of course, on the use of Twitter.  It’s a no brainer that this would be the case, but it tends to unsettle me when I see it.  I found myself turning a corner with this issue when I could say to myself, it’s not my problem if others listen to that bad advice, snake oil is on the rise.

What about you?  Have you been noticing any trends in social media?  Any surprises that have made you pause and wonder?


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  • Hi Richard...

    Twitter offers great possibilities unless you let it run you over!

    I have become somewhat of an active participant lately but I enjoy being an observer more--"the fly on the keyboard." It is fascinating and as in all things, one must sometimes learn "what not to do" rather than "what to do"...Twitterly speaking of course.

    Thank you for sharing you insight!

    <abbr>Henie´s last blog post..What’s so Funny?</abbr>
  • I actually follow hundreds of moms and the advice is amazing.

    Every time I have a parenting crisis I punch it into Twitter and am bombarded with great tips from experienced moms. But I really try to watch who I follow.

    Maybe that will help. If we all un-follow the bad advice givers, it can't live on. Survival of the fittest.

    I made this site last night - for anyone who is new to Twitter and just "doesn't get it."

    http://www.twirgin.com

    Feel free to cut that link out if you like - hope you don't mind, but I did want to share. I just love Twitter and am as fascinated with it as you are.

    @mssinglemama

    <abbr>Alaina (aka Ms. Single Mama)´s last blog post..The First Date</abbr>
  • Since I'm there for the interesting people I can meet, such as yourself, the one thing I find unsettling is the rush to capitalize the media, like there is a pot of gold at the end of the Twitter rainbow. It reminds me of the early days of email, post BBS, just over the threshold of the opening of the gates of Compuserve, Prodigy and AOL to the WWW. Is like the dot-com bubble never bursted in 2000 but kept on gathering soap and surface tension.

    Those hoarding keywords and searching for patterns of interest in Twitter will reap some benefit, I'm sure. However, if they forget the fact that behind every username there's a real person, with a real life and dear interests, they will miss the opportunity to really capitalize that potential.

    <abbr>Luis Andrade´s last blog post..Total Man V1.0</abbr>
  • Hi Luis,
    Thanks for your contribution to this topic. It's funny how having more time to observe brought this recognition to the forefront for me. It certainly doesn;t sway my behaviors, but I'm thinking along the lines of Brogan's upcoming book "Trust Agents" and how twitter is so built on trust. When I got active it was pretty easy for me to find solid advice. I wonder if I'd have the same experience if I were entering the game now.

    As to your interesting people point: thank god! or I'd have shut down my account months ago.
  • Richard, as in the rest of life, I find that ultimately we can only be responsible for our own actions. I can simply strive not to give bad advice myself, and to admit it when I do.
  • Hi Adriel,
    Admitting our mistakes is perhaps the surest way to building our credibility. I'm wondering what would have happened if I posted my two points in reverse order, as know I'm sensing it is the sharing that takes place as they are in this comment thread that protects and guards against bad advice.
  • Hi Richard,
    Great post. Yes, I notice the bad advice too and it worries me. I think it's a catch-22: when you know more you can recognize the bad advice, when you know less you probably believe the bad advice. However, I always come back to the fact that you have to trust others to find their own way. Hopefully, we learn from all experiences whether they're are good or bad.

    <abbr>Mary-Frances´s last blog post..Is the Internet Sucking the Life out of Fiction Writers?</abbr>
  • Hello Mary-Frances,
    I think I'm just getting my snake oil nose tuned up. Like the article in Time this week that pull the cover off the detox scams like the pads people put on their feet. Sometimes it's hard to pitch two ideas in a post, but I do think that the participatory aspect of my first point helps to counter the problem of the bad advice. Thanks for your comment.
  • Snake oil and bad advice is on the rise, on Twitter just as well as in other places on internet. When it comes to advice (good and bad) it is up to each person to validate what is written.

    I enjoy Twitter for the conversations, that is why I am there.

    <abbr>Bengt´s last blog post..btwendel: @BoulderCoaching wrote: We are like magnets - like attract like. :: No they don't. For magnets like poles repel - opposite poles attract.</abbr>
  • Hi Bengt,
    Thanks for your observations. Do you think communities can validate on behalf of the individual, before the individual gets the unencumbered opportunity?
  • If there is a Gresham's law of advice then we should worry about advice on twitter. Most people understand that advice is worth what you pay for it, so I don't think it's a problem.

    <abbr>Sid Parham´s last blog post..Who Do You Write For? Who Do You Read?</abbr>
  • Hi Sid,
    I'm not so sure it isn't a problem, I just think is a subtle problem. Communities have always had to be on guard against the Confidence Man, and Melville's portrayal does tend to leave reader a bit more cautious than he would have otherwise been.
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