While replying to a comment, it occurred to me that I should belatedly at least mention that the current mixed reception of social media by business hardly represents a new trend. When the telephone was introduced, there were a lot of businessmen that did not adopt it because they felt it lacked the personal touch of being in the same room, or even of receiving a handwritten letter by post. This happens with all new technology, really. Some people are flexible and accepting of new things; others are not.It is also true that we are living through the initial period in the life of social media. Tools in this category are going to come and go, and then consolidate into established conventions. That is the way of all things in our society. People and businesses will vote with their feet and their wallets, causing some social media tools to win and others to lose. That is one of the beauties of the (relatively) free market.
So, by all means, use those tools that appeal to you, and which seem to make sense and work for you. By so doing, you are determining which social media tools will last and which will not. There will be a lot of innovation before social media settles into its own comfort zone, almost certainly similar to that found by the telephone many years ago.
For my part, I will continue to Stumble, Mixx, Digg, Tweet, Reddit, FriendFeed, and so on. I will also be thankful that this part of my working life makes those actions almost mandatory, in order to keep up with trends and write about them. Heck, after resisting heavy pressure for a very long time and in deference to my college-age daughter, I finally opened a Facebook account over this long weekend. All things are possible.
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