Micro?

Posted by on Feb 10, 2009 in Rant | 17 comments

A serious question in a bit. First, consider:

Micro-famous.
Micro-blogging.
Micro-finance.
Micro-marketing.

Are we so desperate to feel any sense of importance that we’ll attach the word micro to anything just so that the definition includes us? (by the way, the same applies to new and social)

No disrespect to the creators of the terms, but it seems that we attach micro, social, or new to anything that we can’t otherwise measure up to.

Not famous? Micro-famous!
Too lazy to blog? Micro-blog!
Can’t get a loan? Micro-finance!
Don’t have the juice for large scale marketing? Micro-market!

What do you think?

inspired by the famous Chris Brogan.

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  • http://www.ariwriter.com Ari Herzog

    Inspirational thoughts as always, Chris, but sticking to the financial beat, what of microeconomics? Eliminate micro and what do you have? How to distinguish from macroeconomics?

  • http://ariwriter.com Ari Herzog

    Inspirational thoughts as always, Chris, but sticking to the financial beat, what of microeconomics? Eliminate micro and what do you have? How to distinguish from macroeconomics?

  • http://cslf.wordpress.com Mariana_Evica

    I think you're probably right here, Chris. These are new words for things that already have names, in many cases. Remember “niche marketing”? It's really just marketing. All these pre-fixes (new, social, micro, hyper, etc.) will fall away on their own as the “new” methods become regarded simply as “methods”.

  • http://www.whitneyhoffman.com Whitney

    Ah yes, and after the recovery (ha) it will become Macro everything.

    Too narrow a focus, you lose the big picture. Too Broad a focus, you lose the detail. We all have to master the art of nuance and shifting focus to maintain clarity of perspective.

  • http://www.whitneyhoffman.com Whitney

    @Ari- what about just economics- micro and macro are part of a larger picture, and you can't have one without the other.

  • http://philosophier.net/ olivia

    Micro consumimg in this crisis time!At least If we micro consume and micro pollute, there will be a micro global warming, which is not that bad for us and our childern…

  • http://www.redefine-christmas.org Mariana_Evica

    I think you're probably right here, Chris. These are new words for things that already have names, in many cases. Remember “niche marketing”? It's really just marketing. All these pre-fixes (new, social, micro, hyper, etc.) will fall away on their own as the “new” methods become regarded simply as “methods”.

  • http://www.whitneyhoffman.com Whitney

    Ah yes, and after the recovery (ha) it will become Macro everything.

    Too narrow a focus, you lose the big picture. Too Broad a focus, you lose the detail. We all have to master the art of nuance and shifting focus to maintain clarity of perspective.

  • http://www.whitneyhoffman.com Whitney

    @Ari- what about just economics- micro and macro are part of a larger picture, and you can't have one without the other.

  • http://philosophier.net/ olivia

    Micro consumimg in this crisis time!At least If we micro consume and micro pollute, there will be a micro global warming, which is not that bad for us and our childern…

  • http://howigotmyjob.com Daniel Johnson, Jr.

    Chris, it's the same thing with superlatives and other adjectives used to describe the greatness of something. To wit: cool, neat, awesome, phenomenal, incredible, unique. The more these words are used to describe things, the less we tend to see what the words were really intended to mean.

    I understand why we use these words: to draw attention to something that we may not otherwise have paid attention to. But over time, just like the words micro, new, and social in your post, these words are losing their meaning and are becoming trite.

    Just some thoughts. Awesome thoughts, in my own opinion. ;)

  • http://howigotmyjob.com Daniel Johnson, Jr.

    Chris, it's the same thing with superlatives and other adjectives used to describe the greatness of something. To wit: cool, neat, awesome, phenomenal, incredible, unique. The more these words are used to describe things, the less we tend to see what the words were really intended to mean.

    I understand why we use these words: to draw attention to something that we may not otherwise have paid attention to. But over time, just like the words micro, new, and social in your post, these words are losing their meaning and are becoming trite.

    Just some thoughts. Awesome thoughts, in my own opinion. ;)

  • http://howigotmyjob.com Daniel Johnson, Jr.

    Chris, it's the same thing with superlatives and other adjectives used to describe the greatness of something. To wit: cool, neat, awesome, phenomenal, incredible, unique. The more these words are used to describe things, the less we tend to see what the words were really intended to mean.

    I understand why we use these words: to draw attention to something that we may not otherwise have paid attention to. But over time, just like the words micro, new, and social in your post, these words are losing their meaning and are becoming trite.

    Just some thoughts. Awesome thoughts, in my own opinion. ;)

  • Anonymous

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  • Anonymous

    Nice Article. thanks For The Interesting information. I really enjoy it.

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    Very well written, I am impressed!

  • Guest

    Have to say I do agree. Things like this just are what they are.