Widget Fatigue
This might sound weird coming from a widget developer but maybe there are too many widgets.
Now, let me qualify that statement by saying that maybe there are too many widgets that don’t actually serve a purpose. Even within our own collection of widgets we have those that are useful and those that are just plain silly. Stephen Ralph says:
“As an online marketer I’m constantly scouring the NET looking for the latest and greatest technologies, widgets, etc. to optimize my websites and blogs with…but in the long run do widgets like MyBlogLog, BlogRush, etc. really offer any value to YOU and YOUR online marketing efforts? ”
(via stephenralph.com - Widget Free Blogging)
And I am inclined to agree, even popular widgets, like those from MyBlogLog which claim to offer the blogger a service (being able to see who has visited your website), but are, in the end, nothing more than ads that do not benefit the blogger.
That said, there is a place for silly, pointless widgets. Take a look on MySpace or Facebook and you will see tons of picture slide shows, weird quote things and I Can Has Cheezburger. Why do people use these widgets? Because they help express their identity, or at least show others what they are interested in. So really it comes down to what you are trying to accomplish and who your target audience is - which, if I remember correctly, is straight out of the textbook for Marketing 101.
Still, I think there is a case to be made for raising the bar on portable, widget-like content. Now that we, as an internet community, are starting to get the hang of what widgets are and what they can do it is time to take them to a higher level. We’ve played, we’ve had our fun. Now its time to make something creative, usable, and useful.