It Helps to Have a Guide

In Lessons Learned: Obviously, it’s not Obvious, The Wizard's Dick Costolo (founder of Feedburner) states that the #1 lesson he's learned in the past five years is: What is obvious to you is not necessarily obvious to others. He then goes on to give an example:

I remember the first time I saw Twitter and thought “I don’t get it”, and then somebody explained it to me and I thought “uh-huh. I don’t get it”, and then somebody explained it to me again, and I thought “Ah!... I don’t get it.” Only after I saw somebody using it in a way that I found valuable did I finally get it.

I find this extremely valuable to know - that the founder of Feedburner can come across a popular tool in the New Media/Web 2.0 realm and be completely confused by it.

It makes me feel better about myself, as I explore how I can use sites like Facebook. And it's something to remember as I try to guide people and organizations into trying blogging.

It definitely helps to have a guide - and it's even better if that guide can remember how it was when she was lost in the woods. I try to remember that when I'm talking to someone whose brain is yelling "I don't get it!" at them - it's probably best to use simple terms, avoiding words like "platform," "application," and even "tag."

The trick is helping the other person realize that the hiking trail we're on will lead to a spectacular view.

P.S. I'm still figuring out Twitter myself!
_________________________________________________
Photo from IndonesiaJourney.com.