Comments on: Generatus – Social Media Inflatable Doll (IMHO)

By: Lou Lynch

Lou Lynch — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 00:24:42 +0000

Does any one know of an inflatable doll that I can outsource visits to the in-laws?

Seriously though, I am right behind you guys on this one. If Social Media continues down this path, we are going to see such a tangled web of plastic profiles and bot banter that real connections will be hidden and difficult to uncover. I do admit to having an auto welcome message on twitter for new followers but after reading this, I think I may just remove it.

Thanks for the post Eric, as usual, you are right on point! Looking forward to hearing more about your inflatable doll.

By: Eric Blackwell

Eric Blackwell — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 00:41:15 +0000

@ Kevin- Yeah, exactly. I defense of those who unwittingly may have thought this was a cool idea at first, it is one of those things that seems harmless enough… but when you get right down to it and think about the effects, it destroys the purpose for you doing social media in the first place – creating authentic connections with people.

It is one of those things that just jumped up and grabbed me.

By: Kevin Koitz

Kevin Koitz — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 21:54:15 +0000

Awesome post…and awesome analogy, Eric. Wow, did I read that right? outsourcing “micro-blogs/posts” Really?? . Even if you can’t think about something “witty, funny and original to say” (per Generatus), there are many other substantive ways to communicate. Why not share a great article you’ve read, for example? What you read is a piece of who you are. And sharing a great article is more effective IMO than some witty “one-liner”. IMO, if you need to outsource “what YOU’RE doing”, you need to do some major soul searching . Thanks, Eric…

By: Eric Blackwell

Eric Blackwell — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 18:36:59 +0000

@Wes and Malok- Exactly. Wes- Nice to meet you!

One of the search engine’s primary No No’s is to show their spiders one thing and the visitor something else. This is no different IMO.

Thanks for dropping by!

Eric

By: Wes Unruh

Wes Unruh — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 17:05:09 +0000

I absolutely agree:

If you can’t have a real live conversation
in your own voice with some people,
you’re never going to make a connection.

And preparing them to have a conversation with you
through being open and honest with them
in text chat and in copywriting style

is essential to making that conversation beneficial for both parties.

This certainly seems more like something you’d use to help artificial intelligence evolve, not ‘grow your network’

By: Malok

Malok — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 16:56:19 +0000

Great points, Eric. You can’t create “real” relationships with people – if you aren’t real. The entire point of doing the stuff in the first place is to create connections. If you are “faking it” – you’ll only end up alienating the people you were trying to win over in the first place.