Wasting Time 2.0

We’re flunkies.

Every time the cool crowd jumps on a new Web 2.0 service, many of us waste little time enthusiastically embracing it as well even if the benefits are far more obvious. Three good examples: Twitter, Facebook and Second Life. Cool services, plenty of buzz and lots of users BUT arguably not very useful. What?!

Take Twitter, which gives you the ability to broadcast what you’re doing and where you are to your friends/colleagues/family. It’s bad enough people can already contact you at any time without also having the ability to know what you’re doing and where you doin’ it. Sure, Twitter has some limited uses. If you’re at a conference and want an easy way to coordinate your activities with colleagues, Twitter has some value. But beyond that, I’m not so sure. Yet, Twitter is red-hot. All the cool kids are using it, claiming it’s the best thing since sliced bread – or at least since the last cool Web 2.0 service they feel in love/with.

And what about Facebook? Why has Facebook become so popular all of a sudden. A month ago, I didn’t have any friends or, for that matter, a Facebook profile. Now, I’ve got a profile, lots of friends, and Facebook has replaced LinkedIn as the cool tool for business people to connect with each other. But what’s the benefit of Facebook other than being able to “poke” someone and write on their wall? Is there any value having dozens of Facebook friends?

For all the hype about Twitter and Facebook, I sense a backlash. Take this commentary by Helen Popkin on MSNBC, which includes this delicious statement:

“And also, Twitter is stupid. It really is. I mean, c’mon. You don’t have to get your bowels in an uproar to know that. Twitter is like an RSS feed to every boring aspect of your friend’s lives. And your friends are boring. How could they not be? Hourly updates on your best bud’s activities get dull pretty fast even if your best bud is Jack Bauer”

Meanwhile, Facebook is being attacked as a time-waster by organizations such as the Ontario government, which has banned its civil servants from using Facebook. In explaining the decision, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said:

“The folks who work in government are made up of the same DNA as the folks who work in every other sector. And from time to time, it’s important for a government to review those websites to which you can gain access through your government computer.”

To paraphrase Jimmy Buffett, we’re “wasting our time away on Web 2.0-ville” with cool but useless services such as Twitter, Facebook and Second Life.

Update: TD-Bank has also banned its employees from using Facebook during work hours. For some other views on Twitter, check out Rough Type and Red Monk. As well, Twitter now has a new mobile interface.