Reading through Metafilter while playing around on Facebook and shopping at various e-commerce sites put me in mind of a fundamental problem with the evolution of CRM. It's currently impossible to have a complete view of the customer, or even to know who you're having that fabled two-way conversation with.
We aren't one person online, but a multitude of profiles. It's possible to link these fragmented identities, but the result isn't complete, consistent, or easy to maintain. Basically, businesses are faced with a world full of unmedicated sufferers of multiple personality disorder. Maybe we could start a public awareness campaign with Sally Field as spokesperson, and call it Sybil 2.0?
(Note: this is a reference to Ms. Field's famous role, not a suggestion that she's any more mentally damaged than the typical person—a dubious distinction, but one that needs to be made. We like her; we really, really like her.)
Some people and companies (IBM is a good example of the latter) have taken inspiration from Second Life and are playing with the idea of persistent avatars. IBM is actually working with Linden Lab (SL's developer) to make the idea more than a novelty, and this article touches on the concept as well. Rather than a profile on every site, and with every business, we craft an online representation of self and use it everywhere. As long as there are boundaries (and at the moment Facebook is having some boundary issues—boo!), and suitable controls, this is an ideal solution.
I know none of this is particularly new. But that's part of the problem, isn't it? An idea with great merit is creeping forward when it should be supercruising. We've barely got XYZ 2.0 in a workable form, and already somebody's slapping a 3.0 tag on this. Is it really such a big deal for some propeller-head to create a site/service (opt-in only, of course) that takes our disparate identities and applies some code magic to make them work as one? If I could do it, I'd have done it already and be blogging about how nice it is to be filthy rich.
Speaking of rich, I took Meaghan and her sister Emily to Artisanal last night for dinner. Actually, it worked out more like they took me, but semantics can get boring. Cheese makes me happier than Wallace, and the other food didn't suck either. Here's hoping my avatar can maintain its shape better than I can.
Take the time to check the setting, the prongs, tips and the clasps that fasten the pieces together to insure they are strong enough to be cleaned.
Posted by: utah jewelry | August 22, 2011 at 01:07 PM