Yeah, that’s great, except companies that “matter” are propelled forward by companies that don’t. That’s why free market competition is so much more conducive to innovation. So in that sense, it matters that some companies don’t matter.

Besides, they create jobs that help fuel the economy, and that kind of growth let assholes like you and me do what we ENJOY doing.

By CT Moore on Aug 1, 2007

Hi Loren,

My colleague CT Moore who runs our blog is always forwarding me your stuff, and while I don’t (or often) agree with what you say, it’s 5 mins of my life I can easily afford to spend here.

Concerning what you said about Companies That Matter, I do see one fundamental flaw. Just because you’re not #1 in your market or provide what you subjectively see as essential services, doesn’t mean that you don’t push the companies that “do matter” forward, or dictate, in degree, the way they operate and, especially, the way the public views them. Every great hero needs a villan, and every Google needs a Yahoo.

Oh, and I love Facebook.

By Sanjay Mayar on Aug 1, 2007

Titties will always dominate the American markets collective psyche, but just as there’s more to Michelle than her chest, theres more to the internet than markets.

By vaXzine on Aug 1, 2007

Loren, you’re crazy if you don’t think that people (and not just the tech guys & girls — the hoi polloi) would freak if Facebook just disappeared one day.

But hey, maybe it’s just that I live in Toronto, where everyone is on that website.

By Slava on Aug 1, 2007

@ ‘Do You Matter?’ What a coincidence, Loren– I was going to say the SAME thing.;-)

By Vince Williams on Aug 1, 2007

About M-s cans, that is.

By Vince Williams on Aug 1, 2007

Interesting parallel with discussion a bunch of us have on an ongoing basis about what companies stand for and how that is what differentiates them in commodity markets. We’re talking more about FMCG marketing specifically but I think it applies across the board and on many levels.

By John Dodds on Aug 1, 2007

put a map behind that girl and start faking your viewership stats. immediately.

By meanguy on Aug 1, 2007

Do Google, Flickr, and YouTube really matter? I think you forgot the whole “time” aspect of that question. Take any of those three out today and yes, some people will freak. But tomorrow it may be DailyMotion or Metacafe that garners cause for freaking out.

Comments by others such as “it matters that some companies don’t matter” are dead on.

Granted this isn’t Web 2.0, but go back decades and Honda/Toyota didn’t “matter”. Today they are killing the market that was always thought to be dominated by The Big Three. Why? Because when the market is dominated by few, it gives the little guys a chance to capitalize on the inefficiencies and voids left behind so they can also work their way up the chain.

If the companies that you say don’t matter just disappear, then the companies that do matter won’t actually matter anymore.

By Shaun Rotman on Aug 1, 2007

Your view of Facebook is so generational gap and short sighted.

How many of your friends from high school/college are your friends in Facebook? Probably none!

The college class of 2011 has a complete Rolodex of all of their high school friends and memories and college friends in Facebook.

Try to take their Facebook away.

Face it, it is your generation’s opinion that doesn’t matter anymore.

By Harold Gilchrist on Aug 2, 2007

wow, i was going to say exactly what harold said, but he has has a habit of being first, just ask him about podcasting

anyway, facebook is critical for academia, both students and facility depend on it - my biggest concern w/ the current direction of facebook is that they’ve left their original “users” behind - having a hs ‘07 grad looking forward to using facebook as he enters college, that is concerning to me…

also, minor note - yahoo is a backbone content and services provider and owner of flickr, if they went away people would care globally…

By mike dunn on Aug 2, 2007

ROFL, ok, but seriously, I think facebook matters to people. Probably more than flickr matters. There is a demographic issue of course, as Mike and Harold note. Facebook matters a lot to college-age folks. Also, if yahoo went away, could we keep flickr and delicious? Those two I would freak about.

By Jeff McNeill on Aug 2, 2007

What did you say? I wasn’t paying attention to you talking.

By Jim Kukral on Aug 2, 2007

I’m sorry did you say something?

By Jim Turner on Aug 2, 2007

Doesn’t Google own Flickr? And if Yahoo went away that chat thing would stop working, and people would care about that.

And yeah, the matching white t-shirts are a nice touch. Did you turn the AC up to shoot that one? She’s a good sport to go along with this stuff.

By jvon on Aug 4, 2007

“If Facebook went away, no one would care”

Way to be clued in to what is really going on right now. Not only does Facebook matter to most high school and college students, it has also become more of a networking tool than Linked In for fogies like you. If you bothered to check it out for two seconds, you would see how many companies use it an an internal reference for employee activities.

This and your stupid technigga post has confirmed my decision to view you as an unreliable source of information, starting now.

By Daniela on Aug 4, 2007