If you listen to my podcasts you’ll know I talk about Seesmic and Loic often. Before I had a beta account I was interested in their approach to transparency. I have a master’s degree in Business Management and I have a natural interest in business issues. What is Seesmic? Think of YouTube and Twitter combined, conversation via video. Now that I have a beta account, I decided to take Seesmic for a spin. I have great timing, what can I say?

Talk About a Disconnect…

When I first logged in last week I encountered drama; it was the first thing I saw. I do not remember the original drama because there has been daily drama ever since. I will talk about the current drama over the weekend. A woman showed cleavage and that started a series of conversations that branched off into another conversation where the same woman made an off-comment. Yes, you guessed it…this prompted another set of conversations.

The common denominator in this fiasco: the female was “really” talking to one or two people, yet it was broadcast to the entire community. She kept saying “…but the one or two people I was talking to totally understood…” in which pondered the wisdom of publicly broadcasting something meant for one or two people to thousands. Does that make sense? Perhaps Seesmic needs to integrate the ability to respond semi-privately (or privately) to the specific individuals one is responding to?

Private communication is a band-aid to the real issue. Seesmic users need to understand the simple concept of thinking prior to posting a video and it is Seesmic’s job to educate their users. Currently, Seesmic users are running about doing whatever they want, which brings me to my next point.

I also want to say that less than 50 people are having these conversations, in truth it might be less than 25.

Where is the Terms of Service?

In the beginning the “heavy-weights” of the technology community were using Seesmic. Over time more non-technology focused people were invited to use Seesmic, which was a very good idea. The problem: because they were with the heavy-weights of the technology/Web 2.0 communities, people were very “aware” of what they were saying and how they were saying it. Is it fair to hold new users to a standard they were not around to experience? Is it okay to show your boobs or your ass? Is it okay to curse? What topics are off-limits? If someone takes their video down, can I put it up on my Seesmic space? Implementing a ToS would help guide new users (and remind previous members) in the appropriate direction. Funny how this ties together…

Hierarchy of Users

Let me blunt: the originating users aren’t better than the new users. Do the members saying Seesmic is turning to crap or that there is too much noise realize how insulting that can be? Scarier thought: they do realize and don’t care. Will it be the handful of previous members that will make Seesmic a success? No, it will be the combined effort of the entire community. Making new users feel bad for being there creates a greater rift in the community. Let me be clear: I do not feel “bad” about being a new user or feel like I am unwanted because I know better. I cringe for new users excited about experiencing Seesmic and those discussions are the first thing they see. Will those users still around? Why should they? What a wonderful first experience, huh?

The two-faced part of this (intentional or not) is the focus on the new members not acting appropriately and not calling out the previous members who, under their definition, are creating noise. I looked at Robert Scoble’s videos and very few of them add to the conversation or initiate a conversation. He imports a large amount of QIK videos from Twitter (I think). If Seesmic is about conversation and interaction between people, then why import from any outside service? One of the conversations going on now is about people who imported YouTube videos (and ironically were discussing them) and how YouTube videos are “noise”. Um, hate to tell ya but so are QIK videos imported from Twitter if they do not add to the conversation. There is a disconnect on what users want and what Seesmic provides. I could care less if Robert imports videos just like I could care less if people import YouTube videos. I don’t feel it is my place to decide how someone starts a conversation or carries out a conversation. I might enjoy a YouTube video response or, like I did the other day on Twitter, want to start a conversation based on a YouTube video and I enjoyed watching a couple of the videos Robert posted that I would not have seen because I don’t follow Robert’s Twitter.

Another irony: Otir, a Seesmic member, made a video that accurately describes the situation going on now. How many people responded? One, but the “Is Seesmic turning into crap” conversation is still going on strong. It’s been going on for four hours.

The UI Needs a Major Overhaul

The UI seems to be a point of discussion for awhile it seems. Finding conversations, keeping track of conversations, being able to block conversations one does not wish to take part in, etc. need to be addressed. Honestly, the only way I can see Seesmic working is by allowing the user’s dashboard (the main page they see when they log in) to be completely customizable. Some people will want to see all the new conversations; others will only want to see a limited view of their friends. Some might not want to see all of their friends but only a small selection of their friends. Imagine following the videos of all the people you are friends with on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, etc.? Video has to be more streamlined because it is a more intensive medium. Everyone doesn’t have unlimited high-speed bandwidth to play with and if ISPs move in the direction of tiered bandwidth, the user will have to make choices on how to spend their time because time will directly equal money spent. Let’s not forget that watching videos will be much more time consuming than glancing through text. I can glance through 1000 comments in 15 minutes tops; can I do that with video?

My Suggestions

1. Stop focusing on scaling and focus on fixing the UI problems. What is the point of adding new members for those members to feel unwanted? Or worse, hesitant to interact because he or she might mess up, and a mistake on Seesmic starts a very long detailed conversation on the issue. Fixing the UI will eliminate many of the complaints.
2. Educate the users, specifically the original users who have an unrealistic ideal of what Seesmic will be. One day Seesmic will have millions of users so that warm and fuzzy feeling when there were only 100 will be impossible to achieve. It is not fair to have users try to live up to an unrealistic expectation.
3. Educate users on how to socialize in public situations, particularly the repercussions of not thinking before posting a video. As an example, I realize that this post will possibly upset some people but I am making the conscious decision to post it anyway. I am not posting this without any thought on the cause and effect of my actions then saying, “well, I only meant this for the people interacting in the specific threads I spoke of knowing they would get it…”, do you see what I mean? Thinking about one’s actions prior to doing it isn’t a bad thing. Letting fear stop one from doing something he or she really wants to do can be a crippling thing.
4. Get the Terms of Service up ASAP so users have a guideline on what is expected of them, then follow it without making exceptions to the rules unless there are unusual circumstances.
5. Get moderators, experienced moderators that have experience in disconnecting their personal beliefs from the conversations they see on the site and playing favorites with friends. This is a tough one because of the friendships created via Seesmic. It took years for me to be able to separate friendships from business/social situations in communities. Most people do not have the desire or the occasion to do this so strict rules for moderators should probably be carved out.
6. Put more focus on your shows – they are buried in all the conversation. I was logged in a couple of days before I realized they were there.
7. Notifications – I have followers and I had no idea. I discovered them by accident. Giving users the ability to be notified about specific actions happening within the community will cause them to come back.

Honestly, these are issues most communities experience and are probably on a ToDo list to be done (I would not be surprised if scaling issues are the reason why some have not been implemented yet). How the Seesmic team handles these issues will make all the difference. There are too many people lurking or feeling frustrated with Seesmic for the community to comfortably grow. Instead of pimping Seesmic and gaining exposure, fix the problems. If the Seesmic team can please the people that want to leave and get the people that are lurking to feel comfortable posting videos, they will have a much easier time gaining and retaining new users.

Will I continue to check in on Seesmic? Most definitely. I view the Seesmic daily video everyday and I have interest in the videos they release. The Seesmic team cracks me up and I love how they have a fun and vibrant work environment. I have admiration for Loic and what he is trying to accomplish but that does not sway me from speaking about the problems that are mini-snowballing within Seesmic. Conversing with others will be a different experience based on the expectations of the users. In any large community, which Seesmic will become, people will feel anonymous until the person makes the effort to be recognized and known. This is the underlying problem with the original members: recognizing that to be heard, they will have to work harder. To be respected, more effort will be needed. To make connections and friends a true love and desire for the community as a whole, not just a small segment of it, will be needed.

My username in Seesmic is Tyme. If you have a Seesmic account let me know, I’ll follow ya.