There’s an article in The New York Times “via TechCrunch” about the demise of Color, the something something photo sharing something location-or-other app that got a lot of attention months ago for raising $41 million and was therefore, far more annoyingly, responsible for another rash of “bubble” rumblings.

The TechCrunch article says Color “was supposed to be the app that changed proximity-based sharing.” The Times describes it as a “photo-sharing cellphone application.” Color’s website says:

Simultaneously use multiple iPhones and Androids to capture photos, videos, and conversations into a group album. There’s no attaching, uploading, or friending to do.

I downloaded Color to my iPhone when it launched, played with it for about two minutes and gave up on it. When you open the app, what passes for instructions is a drawing of a bunch of people apparently taking pictures either of nothing or of one another with their smart phones. The legend says, “Take photos together.”

Why? Of what?

Now I’m not just being curmudgeonly. I use a lot of apps, social media and otherwise, that many people would consider pointless. Plus, I wanted to like Color; I like taking photos and I like social networking. But, in the time I was willing to spend, I couldn’t figure out what I was supposed to do with Color or why it would be fun and interesting. I can almost get it, but not quite.

I’m not necessarily an early adopter and over the last few years I’ve been concentrating on enterprise social media, so most of the questions I’ve fielded and explored have been about Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and blogs. They all have their skeptics, but it’s not that hard to explain the value of each to someone willing to keep an open mind.

To people not on Facebook who ask me why they should care, I tell them that Facebook is creating, essentially, a “shadow Internet” that makes it easier to share news, messages, photos, videos and other information with people you choose to connect with. Most people, unless they’re just being bloody minded, can see the value in that. “To the people who ask, “Why should I care what my friends are doing?”, I have no answer nor do I wish to help you work that one out. Maybe you need more interesting friends.”

When people ask me about Twitter, I tell them it’s a messaging service that allows you to get short news updates on a variety of topics from people and organizations you find interesting and valuable. I show them how I get the majority of my news, both about my profession and the world in general, from Twitter. Again, even the skeptics who conclude it’s not for them can see that it’s not just a waste of time.

I tried to understand Color and couldn’t, and still don’t. Hence my suggested rule for investing, as described in the title. Can you explain the value of the social network you want to invest in “or build” in 50 words or less in a way that your parents will understand? Without a digression? Without PowerPoint?

“Of course, I’m old and so are my parents, so you might want to substitute “grandparents.””

I’m not worried about a bubble fueled by social media because I’m convinced that a great deal of what is being created is worthwhile and valuable. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot of hype and money going in the wrong directions.

If the elevator pitch only makes sense to other folks inside the social media fishbowl, maybe that should tell you something.

Every now and then I’ll get into a conversation about introverts and extroverts. People sometimes think I’m kidding when I say I’m an introvert. Sometimes it’s because they’ve seen me speaking before a roomful of people, or acting goofy to get a laugh.

When I first took the Myers Briggs test, I was right on the borderline between introvert and extrovert. The last time I took it online I had moved a bit to the E side, but not by much.

I’m thinking about this because I’ve spoken at two conferences in the last week, and that always gets me thinking about human interactions and my reactions to them. Also, my friend Emily just posted a link to a post by Jerry Brito called Top Ten Myths About Introverts. Not everything in that post applies to me, but a lot of it does.

I hate small talk, for instance. I would much rather someone walked up to me at a cocktail party and said, “Tell me what your first decree would be if you became emperor,” rather than, “So, did you see the game?” And it’s true, as Brito points out, that if you get me talking about something I’m interested in, I won’t shut up for days.

Years ago I heard a description of the difference that made sense to me. Extroverts recharge their batteries by being around other people; introverts do it by being alone. That is definitely true for me. I love going to conferences, client meetings, parties and other intensely social events. But when I hit a wall, I need to get the hell out and be by myself for a while.

I suspect a lot of the people we see on the podium at conferences feel the same way. I know I’ve had similar conversations with people I’ve met on the speaker circuit.

How about you? How do you recharge your batteries? Alone or in groups?

image by Malulux

By now you’ve probably heard the story of the woman in the Netherlands who got a tattoo on her arm showing the faces of all her Facebook friends. And by now you’ve probably also heard that it’s a hoax. Many of the more than two million people who viewed the video on YouTube commented to express their views on getting a permanent reminder of a passing fad.

Let’s try a little exercise. Read the following sentence:

“A woman in the Netherlands got a tattoo of all her Facebook friends on her arm and it became an international news story.”

Now read this one:

“A woman in the Netherlands got a tattoo of all her friends on her arm and it became an international news story.”

I don’t think so.

I live in a town where I see odder tattoos nearly every day. I remember seeing a guy years ago who had tattoos all over both legs, including a crossed knife and fork, and a cow hiding behind a giant piece of broccoli. When I tended bar in London last century, I saw a young punk on the King’s Road with “GLASGOW” tattooed across his forehead. “”So where are you from? Oh, never mind.””

In the annals of tattooing, getting your friends’ faces on your arm could actually be considered charming and sweet. But add the word “Facebook” and it’s a scandal and an outrage.

I’m immersed in this every day so I get tired of the hype machine that tacks “social media” or “Facebook” onto what are essentially phenomena that have always existed. Houses got robbed, people got stalked, photos got misused and people got fired for saying stupid things long before social media came along. Unfortunately, it’s the hype machine that plants the idea in people’s minds “including executives of enterprise companies who should be getting value out of social media” that social media is evil and dangerous.

Social media is just another way of communicating. It’s a set of tools and, to a certain extent, a philosophy of sharing and openness. But it’s not a religion. It’s not a political movement. One day the novelty will have worn off, the fears will have subsided and social media tools will be just a normal part of our lives, like the telephone and the Internet.

“But then what will we blog about?”