The F Bomb: Never Cool
Scoble comments on Tim Bray's F Bomb dropping:
Personally I think it’s cool that Tim Bray thinks Sun’s new product is cool enough to use salty language about.
Actually, it's very much not cool, and I'm utterly unimpressed with Bray's handwaving about it. Here's the thing: when you use coarse language, there's no upside. That's right - none. At best, part of your audience won't care, or won't care that much. It's an absolute certainty that some of your audience (who knows how much) will be put off by it.
In marketing terms, that's a pretty large net negative. No one (or, almost no one) is going to have a positive reaction. Some people will blip past it. However, some of your readers (or listeners) will be offended - possibly enough to damage the way they look at your product, service or company.
So no, that usage wasn't cool, not by a longshot. The best we can say about it is that it might not do much damage. For those of you who think such usage is somehow more "authentic", I have two words: grow up.
Technorati Tags: PR
Comments
[Gary Short] October 23, 2006 5:31:38.000
Isn't the upside the fact that you've given it quite a lot of attention here on your blog?
Cheers,
Gary
http://www.garyshort.org/
[Daniel Berger] October 23, 2006 10:09:27.000
I absolutely agree. I mean, seriously, that **** has got to stop. What the **** is he thinking?
[denis bider] October 23, 2006 16:19:41.000
I, and many others, would probably never have read (any of) Tim Bray's articles, had he not used "f****** cool" and caused everyone else (including you) to write about it.
Your reasoning against the use of coarse language is politically correct in a shortsighted manner. Your argument seems right because it is incorrectly framed. It would be right if your aim was to please all possible people, but whoever tries to please all possible people, pleases no one in the end.
If you want to build a following, you're going to build a following that consists of people who like who you are, and for this you need them to know who you are in the first place, and for this you need to express yourself authentically. That means defining yourself, and defining yourself means including those aspects that are going to repel people who aren't on your wavelength. This makes you a human being with a purpose, rather than a bland, tasteless cog in the corporate machinery whose only purpose is to... well, never mind.
Re: The F Bomb: Never Cool
[ James Robertson] October 23, 2006 19:39:57.000
Comment by James Robertson
It's not "Politically Correct". It's really very simple: If you use coarse language, some people will be offended. That's a fact. If you don't use coarse language, no one will object to its absence. That's also a fact. You can rage against social conventions all you want, but those facts remain.
Faux authenticity gained by coarse language irritates some percentage of the people you talk to. Please explain how there's an upside to that.
[Daniel Berger] October 23, 2006 21:24:26.672
It appears that my original comment was edited for some reason. I was being sarcastic, in case anyone cares. In fact, I said that in my original comment, but that part was cut.
[denis bider] October 23, 2006 22:48:40.923
> If you use coarse language, some people will be offended. That's a fact.
> If you don't use coarse language, no one will object to its absence. That's also a fact.
What you fail to mention is that people who read what you write not only have to be non-offended, they also have to be titillated, amused, entertained, whatever it takes for them to want to come back and read more of what you have to offer.
They have to identify with you. There has to be a reason for them to come back to you.
Now, if you're the saucier type who likes to use coarse language, people who like to use it too will naturally think you are "cool" and will identify with you because they share one of your characteristics.
On the other hand if you hold back and don't use coarse language, you won't offend anyone, but you'll also lose the opportunity to identify with some people who will now not identify with you as much.
It's just a matter of what kind of crowd you would like to attract. Some people even make a lot of money by using coarse language. They're good at it, and it's their style. Just because it's not your style, and you aren't attracted to it, doesn't mean it's necessarily a bad idea.
It just means you're a prude. ;)
[denis bider] October 23, 2006 22:53:25.544
Which is proven by your edits of our comments. See, it's not even you not using coarse language - you can't even stand the idea of people using it on your blog. You think it's distasteful and shines a bad light on your blog. So you have to make sure that not only will you not use coarse language, but we the commenters also will not. Cause it's your blog. No coarse language here. Eh? ;)
It is my blog...
[ James Robertson] October 23, 2006 23:08:22.291
Comment by James Robertson
And the company I work for (which hosts it) is a conservative, midwestern outfit. I see no reason to rock that boat for effect. As for "titillation"...
"Casablanca" is a far better movie than a lot of what's being made today. I really don't think that swear words would have elevated it. To be blunt, if you have to swear to make your point, then your vocabulary needs work.
what's a prude
[ Troy Brumley] October 24, 2006 8:47:30.707
Comment by Troy Brumley
Coincidentally, I recently complained to a local political blog here in Cincinnati about tactics such as calling people monsters in their local issues endorsements.
There is a time and a place for all sorts of words. I've been involved in some fascinating yet uncomfortable (for a 45 year old white guy from Texas) discussions about the N-word in literature classes at school, and some of the issues brought up in those discussions apply to the F-word as well.
I am not a prude. Far from it. Yet I avoid coarse and/or ungrammatical language in business settings. It's impolite to make others uncomfortable.
Good manners are always in style.