Murder On The Dancefloor

“It’s murder on the dancefloor. But you better not kill the groove. Dj, gonna burn this goddamn house right down.” (British Kids will get it.)

Owyang wrote on August 26 that it’s 1:50 am on the social software dance floor. Owyang’s summary is excellent and solid. It’s worth reading. It’s worth considering.

I’m adding:

I don’t know if it’s 1:50am, 12:05am, or 1755 for SMMS.

The chart below is on reason why I’m not so sure:

I don’t think we’ve even really gotten started. I don’t think we’ve even begun really using social technology to its potential at all. It’s 1755 and we’re unsatisfied with the amount of work that steam does.

And meanwhile, old man McCraken is hollering about waterwheels and screaming that steam power is just a repeat of the South Sea Bubble. Oh, he has a point. Both Steam and the WaterWheel use water. They both do work. Yet, there’s a reason why we don’t drive around in WaterWheels today, right? Get what I mean? It’s 1755 for social technology.

Is it 1:50 am for SMMS?

2010 was a lot like the Cambrian Explosion. A lot companies entered. And a lot of them competed on different dimensions of different problems. Most of them were really competing for acquisition. Quite a few larger firms snapped up smaller ones and are getting those stacks in place.

Is it last call for that?

The best analogy I can use is that there’s a lot of action happening in the washroom and maybe in alleyway out back near the dumpster. Maybe some of those firms are getting their first look at who they’re with and might want to go back into the club.

Maybe it’s 12:05am for SMMS because the first round of acquisitions didn’t quite achieve what was desired.

What if the combination of massive piles of cash and few growth industries is really fueling a much longer S-curve? What if the relative ignorance of the desire for a whole-product fuels the drink special?

Who wins?

It really is murder on the dancefloor.

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I’m Christopher Berry.
Follow me @cjpberry
I blog at christopherberry.ca