Cut the Cute Crap

So many of these web 2.0 start ups are too cutesy.

For example, as I am setting up my Digg account, I keep getting little messages from Digg "Your email address looks valid - that's a good thing." "This is your password. Remember to Remember it." The Kluster people have their own mini language-Watts, telling me I can give members of my community "props", etc.

Yea, I get that you guys a young. But do you even talk like that in real life? It sounds like a middle aged person trying to sound young.

Even if you are marketing towards 18-35 year olds, the sort of people who would use these apps are sophisticated enough not to be wooed by the slang and MTV graphics. Or are they?