Bebo disappoints over Nintendo decision

11 December 2008

It’s interesting how Nintendo obviously views social media as just another eyeball opportunity, in complete contradiction to the spirit of the Cluetrain Manifesto (Nintendo blocks user chat on Bebo; nma 4 December).

It’s being disingenuous when it states of its audience, “We encourage them to talk, but we just want them to take the conversation elsewhere.” If I take away your pens and paper am I encouraging you to write elsewhere or not to write at all? I tend to agree with EA when it states, “Talking is what people do on these sites. If you’re not going to allow them to talk you might as well just stick up an ad.”

Of course, Nintendo in its wisdom (which is patently not of the crowd) can use disable/enable functionality as Bebo grants it power to do so. In a way I’m more surprised at Bebo — just what sort of digital brand is it seeking to become if it allows users (brands or individuals) to disable key social media functionality? Perhaps by allowing the core of what it has hitherto stood for to be eroded it will become something else. For better or for worse is yet to become clear.