Comments on: Socialminder = Fail

By: Paul Klipp

Paul Klipp — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 12:30:06 +0000

SocialMinder responded exactly appropriately to the reaction in this blog and others, I think:

http://www.socialminder.com/we-made-a-mistake-and-we-have-changed-our-approach/

The blog title says it all, but the details are interesting.

full disclosure: I own the offshore development company that coded most of the SocialMinder application.

By: Lynda Lippin

Lynda Lippin — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 22:04:58 +0000

I think that any service that asks you to give up your passwords is wrong. There are plenty of social media ways to stay in touch.

By: Karin Dalziel

Karin Dalziel — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 17:06:02 +0000

Michael- I am certainly not wishing for them to go out of business. I’m sure the service is useful for some people, but not for me – not only for the reasons above, but like David Lee King mentioned, I keep in touch with people in lots of other ways than email – twitter, facebook and phone.

Also, After I looked I realized I’d have to give out both my email and linked in password to try this- something I would not be willing to do no matter how great the service.

By: Michael E. Rubin, Blog Council

Michael E. Rubin, Blog Council — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:37:41 +0000

Karin — I understand where you’re coming from. And I agree, the language is a bit off-putting. Then it seems they need to hire a better copywriter, not go out of business, right?

Christa — “They want their early adopters to try their service and then tell everyone we know how great it is.” The methods may have been different, but you’re describing the early growth strategy for LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, and half a dozen other social networks. Asking people to tell their friends is classic word of mouth marketing, and again, has been used countless numbers of times.

The copywriting needs a change, but to call it an ‘ignorant mistake’ just because they use the same growth methods as most of the services you probably already use seems … well, wrong.

Again, I have no stake in this. I don’t know these people, and I have no affiliation with them. I don’t like virtual pile-ons, though (having been a victim — yes, a victim — of one myself) and am trying to understand the root cause of this one.

—-
312-932-9000 / michael@blogcouncil.org / twitter: merubin
I am a Blog Council employee and this is my personal opinion.

By: :: Plain Jane Mom Blog

:: Plain Jane Mom Blog — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 19:52:14 +0000

[...] Avoid "SocialMinder" — they're spammers. [...]

By: Christa Burns

Christa Burns — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 18:53:02 +0000

A social networking site that hasn’t learned the cardinal rule of ‘don’t make me spam my friends’ will fail. They want the early adopters to try their service and then tell everyone we know how great it is? Sorry, you already lost us and put yourself in the circular file cabinet with this ignorant mistake.

By: Karin Dalziel

Karin Dalziel — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 18:40:01 +0000

Michael- I agree, the idea sounds great, but I am completely turned off by the language above. In particular- “if you aren’t comfortable with this then don’t be a victim.. no one is forcing you to user SocialMinder, and no one says that you have to do the upgrade.”

I find this extremely patronizing and off-putting. That and the fact that so many people seem to be having the spamming problem Bobbi describes (I know of at least 5) make it a not very attractive product, free or otherwise.

By: dccrowley

dccrowley — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 18:39:41 +0000

Hi Bobbi, I got an invite as well and signed up. While they have not betrayed my trust. I regretted signing up and smapping my friends. I have deleted my account and changed my gmail and linkedIn passwords. They need to make a bold privacy statement. Otherwise trust issues will continue imo

By: Michael E. Rubin, Blog Council

Michael E. Rubin, Blog Council — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 18:32:36 +0000

I haven’t used SocialMinder yet. I’ve just been reading all the hoohah it’s generated.

To me, the premise behind the service seems like a good one. Use the service to reconnect with people you haven’t talked with in awhile. For very busy people, this seems like a very good idea. What’s wrong with it?

I have no affiliation with SocialMinder. I just like to ask questions.

By: Bobbi Newman

Bobbi Newman — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 17:31:01 +0000

some how I missed the part where it clearly stated that I was electing to email/invite (or spam) all my friends.

But they are right no one is making me use it, and I wont, and I’ll encourage others not to.