Three Reasons Menshn May Be a Non-Starter

DannyBrown LiveFyre already does it? ok, well, that's nice. only problem is that nobody I know has ever heard of LiveFyre or your other solution of coveritlive (and neither had I, despite being a developer for almost 20 years). An alternative service isn't much good if nobody ever hears that it even exists. I'm with ElaineJoli on this; give them a chance. You might like hashtags in twitter, but a huge number of people don't touch twitter at all because hashtags are like techy obscure programming codes to most normal people. do you ever speak to normal people,  or do you live in an I.T. bubble where only I.T. experts exist?

 @Andrea T.H.W. I've heard some folks say it's just a vanity project, given the closeness of Mensch's surname and the name of the platform. Guess we'll see. :)

Well given that many people around the world are seeing politics and politicians for what they really are I guess this new social thing won't go that far. Though it might be that in some countries politicians still works for citizens' interest and so this thing could have its place.But one based on fairys and Leprechauns would have had a better chance of success. Wait, maybe fairys and Leprechauns do exists.

Well given that many people around the world are seeing politics and politicians for what they really are I guess this new social thing won't go that far. Though it might be that in some countries politicians still works for citizens' interest and so this thing could have its place.

But one based on fairys and Leprechauns would have had a better chance of success. Wait, maybe fairys and Leprechauns do exists.

ElaineJoli For sure, Elaine, and thank you for your always thoughtful comments. It'd be a bit lame if a blogger only allowed the agreeing comments. :)

LisaThorell  "it's really done well elsewhere" AND a PR problem - I suppose this could be a real lesson for getting your messaging right and the power of social media.  People can be intrigued by your product, hate your product or be indifferent right from the initial message.  And if your message/personality/story is really wrong, you've got trouble ahead.  Thanks for your comments back to me, Lisa - and thanks Danny for always providing a forum where people can disagree and still be heard.

A great article :)

 @ElaineJoli  @DannyBrown    It is not Mensch per se, I believe, that folks are objecting to, but the manner in which it was introduced PR-wise. As the GigaOm article put it...   "Yet here you have Mensch, a politician who is supposed to be paid to represent her constituents, and she’s not just telling you that she thinks she knows how you should be using Twitter — she’s actually using her position and notoriety to actually launch an entire business that tells you that you’re using Twitter wrong."   But that said, folks may be inferring, well, if that's how you introduce yourself, perhaps that also reflects the guiding philosophy behind your social network. Starting off by criticising a seminal platform, the negative trajectory of it - just seems poor form. In contrast, note when Lady Gaga's LittleMonsters.com launched, Backplane went out of their way to say specifically they were in no way disparaging Twitter, in fact they were encouraging (and their Cortex architecture supports) interaction across Twitter and other social networks . All in all- a much positive message.

 @Rhysorwin  Liz I agree - risks definitely need to be taken. But there's a risk and then there's a "this is already done really well elsewhere" approach, which menshn seems to fall in.

 @abdallahalhakim Agreed, conversations are becoming fractured. The thing is to make sure the platform/offering makes sense (from the arguments put across for its need). This is where (for me) menshn doesn't do the job.

 @ElaineJoli The difference is, Elaine, the reasons are lame. Every frustration Mensch already has a solution. This just comes across as poorly researched and something that really isn't needed.

WOW. Come on folks - slamming something you haven't tried?  Where's the entrepreneurial camaraderie? Another restaurant - who needs it?  There are already thousands.  Another TV network?  Who needs HBO? Who needs another ebook on marketing?? Maybe Menshn will become the agent for political change?  Who knows?  Why aren't we embracing a twist on an existing idea?  Giving it a chance - Saying 'you go girl' - at least you tried.  The whole idea of launching is hopefully you'll find an audience that will shape what comes next.  Someone who saw something they thought they could improve upon.  It's incredibly hard work to launch a site of this nature - and to have it slammed before it gets a chance to get it's little legs going is - well...  a bit mean spirited.

WOW. Come on folks - slamming something you haven't tried?  Where's the entrepreneurial camaraderie? Another restaurant - who needs it?  There are already thousands.  Another TV network?  Who needs HBO? Who needs another ebook on marketing?? 

Maybe Menshn will become the agent for political change?  Who knows?  Why aren't we embracing a twist on an existing idea?  Giving it a chance - Saying 'you go girl' - at least you tried.  The whole idea of launching is hopefully you'll find an audience that will shape what comes next. 

Someone who saw something they thought they could improve upon.  It's incredibly hard work to launch a site of this nature - and to have it slammed before it gets a chance to get it's little legs going is - well...  a bit mean spirited.

Menshn might not be offering the best solution but the need to discover social conversations and getting more engaged is increasing as the web becomes more social. Check out Engagio as it is positioning itself as network for keeping track of social conversations from the different social networks (Livefyre is supposed to be added soon). 

Menshn might not be offering the best solution but the need to discover social conversations and getting more engaged is increasing as the web becomes more social. Check out Engagio as it is positioning itself as network for keeping track of social conversations from the different social networks (Livefyre is supposed to be added soon). 

DannyBrown Yup. And as a colleague pointed out to me, there's also Lady Gaga's LittleMonsters.com announced late May and by invitation only.  I'll have to catch up on that pay wall discussion. ;-)

Liz  DannyBrown I would agree to an extent, but I really feel like the social world is still very much unexplored. As users I don't think we know what it is we want yet, I don't think many people said they wanted a platform like twitter before it began, same with Facebook etc.Risks need to be taken if we're going to move forward. That's not me saying that this one is a good idea or even one that will work but I wouldn't want to discourage people trying to push us forward.

Liz A site that limits usage to the U.S. certainly wouldn't encourage this Scotsman living in Canada... ;-)

LisaThorell That's an interesting point, and perhaps the natural evolution towards the pay walls that many bloggers are now speaking about.Like you say, what will be interesting is how many political folks will make the jump from Twitter, especially since it's already covered so well with political chats. Guess we'll see. :) 

JayDolan Kinda like James Caan is like Henry Fonda. Except not. :)

I think there's an inherent problem when you have to describe a new social network as "It's like x, but y."

I think there's an inherent problem when you have to describe a new social network as "It's like x, but y."

I've used the convertlive a few times and i think it is very effective in the way i blog with others. The twitter hash tags are really effective when separating topics. What is also a bug in my mind is how some people on facebook are using hash tags on their status. It is very unheard of but i guess i will just have to deal with it. This article is very interesting and opens my mind for blog deeply.

I've used the convertlive a few times and i think it is very effective in the way i blog with others. The twitter hash tags are really effective when separating topics. What is also a bug in my mind is how some people on facebook are using hash tags on their status. It is very unheard of but i guess i will just have to deal with it. This article is very interesting and opens my mind for blog deeply.

Hey Danny, these are all good points in terms of Menshn not really adding anything as a topic finding alternative" to Twitter. I agree and more so- It's patently ridiculous.What i find interesting here though is the thought of this type of thing catching on, namely,"What if high profile Twitter users, like politician Mensch here, picked up their personal networks and made their own microblogging sandbox network? Think The Kim Kardashian TwitNetwork. (Good name, eh?)I personally do not believe Menshn will succeed at this point (she just got a "Nigerian scam" attack on the network this morning) unless this political-topic-network has substantial IT and network security resources.But even so -- this is a highly intriguing demonstration of a latent vulnerability of Twitter's.

Hey Danny, these are all good points in terms of Menshn not really adding anything as a topic finding alternative" to Twitter. I agree and more so- It's patently ridiculous.

What i find interesting here though is the thought of this type of thing catching on, namely,"What if high profile Twitter users, like politician Mensch here, picked up their personal networks and made their own microblogging sandbox network? Think The Kim Kardashian TwitNetwork. (Good name, eh?)

I personally do not believe Menshn will succeed at this point (she just got a "Nigerian scam" attack on the network this morning) unless this political-topic-network has substantial IT and network security resources.But even so -- this is a highly intriguing demonstration of a latent vulnerability of Twitter's.

To me, this is yet another example of an idea that was not proceeded by proper research. Hence, Menschn appears to be redundant and perhaps unnecessary. It's another shiny platform in the midst of an overcrowded space that begs the question 'what would drive me to your site?' I believe that you've laid out the argument pretty well: right now, nothing. As you say, time will tell. I say, 'next.'

To me, this is yet another example of an idea that was not proceeded by proper research. Hence, Menschn appears to be redundant and perhaps unnecessary. It's another shiny platform in the midst of an overcrowded space that begs the question 'what would drive me to your site?' I believe that you've laid out the argument pretty well: right now, nothing. As you say, time will tell. I say, 'next.'