Please Stop Calling It a Widget

Mike Berkley of SplashCast Media recently wrote about the bad naming convention of calling of syndicated direct marketing applications like the SplashCast player a "widget," and how that practice inadvertently contributes to the "old skool media" syndication's weary-eyed view of "new skool media" syndication technology.

At the core of the issue is the silliness of the word itself, which depreciates the application's simple yet powerful ability to let fans spread a brand's message faster than you can say "viral marketing". To me the word "widget" conjures an image of small peoples who practice the Wiccan religion, not fantastically efficient social media technology. We might as well call them "gizmos". So, how shall we refer to them instead? Direct Media Applications? Brand Ambassador Tools? Syndicated Media Appliances? Even the word "gadgets" discredits their value.

This morning I found yourminis.com, which provides customizable Syndicated Media Modules (Ooo! I like that one!). With it, in about 60 seconds of dragging and dropping and without even creating an account, I made myself a syndication-enabled module of my Flickr photos. I went ahead and created an account anyway, however, to keep track of the data my Syndicated Module (another good one!) collects, such as views and how many times the code was copied.

I have high expectations for media syndication technology, and certainly consider myself to be a Social Media Module Ambassador. Now, if only people would stop calling it a widget!

Let's go steady!