Websites Obsolete? – Not in the Real World

I came across this post the other day which was based around the line that a static website is pointless in today’s social media/dynamic content world. The authors specific points where that;

…“plain vanilla” web sites:

• have limited impact on your online reputation. Basic web sites, as I’ve defined them, just don’t have as much influence as they once did. They’re being replaced by an array of social media, where your reach can be exponentially greater, with much less effort on your part.
• have limited interactive capabilities. Blogs and blog engines are much better suited for integrating interactive features, embedding widgets, and interconnecting social media accounts.

What a complete load of rot. I need to remind the author that, despite the crescendo of voices of the digerati drowning out the vast majority of humanity that constitutes the rest of the world, it is that very “rest of the world” who we should be listening to.

Sure those of us who spend our days immersed in social media have the time and resource to foster our online reputation ad nauseum and interact with all and sundry but we need to remember that we still need people in that other world – the teachers of our kids, the maintainer of our vehicles, the builder of our homes. As a commenter on the post said;

Does no one even recognize the painful amount of time social media requires…. What does the lawn care guy do? If he is Twittering all day and not cutting lawns (or dispatching those that do), he’s out of business. If he comes home at night and Twitters, he’s out of a family.

Sometimes I think social media gurus/twits need a big slap to the back of the head as a wake up call to the real world.

If you guys are talking about major brands that have people looking around for things to do better than chatting at the water cooler, then whatever. But if you are talking about the 95% of businesses in the US that make LESS than $5M a year in revenue, you had damn well better be selective with whom you encourage to pursue such a time intensive campaign.

When did time stop equaling money?

A static website can be built and deployed and maintained for a few hours a month and be VERY effective in establishing credibility with your client base. I haven’t seen a social media product yet that doesn’t require dozens of hours per month to even make a dent in the space.

Here in this rarefied space of web commentary we get so tied up with web 2.0, enterprise 2.0, social media and the like that we forget the reality for the vast majority of the world. That food on the table and clothes on their backs is a direct result of the toil of their hands and that time frittered (or twittered) away has a direct result on their ability to perform that toil.

Rant over.