Walking through #SXSW you meet an interesting variety of people who have one thing in common: Social Media. And to be fairly honest, after being immersed for a full 48 hours in this digital Mekka: most of the tweeps around here are useless :-).
Maybe I should blame my jetlag, or is it my down to earth Belgian mentality… but a lot of these so called digital upper crowd make no sense at all. I hear a lot of quacking about nice dreams, but three or four questions into the conversation you notice that they have no clue what the real-world-out-there rules of engagement are.
What is the benefit of the tool/platform/technique/gimmick for the user? How does it make life better or more interesting? How do you monetize it? Who will you partner with to make it happen? Is an-all English tool to conquer the multilingual world the best you could come up with? Have you realized not ALL people use an iPhone?
I see a lot of lonely, nearly desperate people with shiny airbooks struggling to explain the one great idea they have.
Once the connection with the real world is lost, even the most brilliant nerd is doomed. My advice to these too pale web ghosts is: unplug. For a while. Take some air. Take a minute AFK (Away From Keyboard). Meet real people. See what they’re like, what drives them. How business is done.
You’ll see, you’ll get there. Eventually.
Luckily, there are still enough people here who DO know what they are talking about… 😉
