On technology adoption and innovation cycles

Jorge Garma interviewed me by phone a little over two months ago for the newspaper Levante, and it was published a couple of days ago in the Iberian Press media under the title "Enrique Dans: it is absurd to stop using social networks" (pdf) , and with a file photo of a good many years ago :-)

We talked about the processes of technology adoption and its rhythms, including issues such as digital transformation in companies and people, differences between Spain and other countries, the use of different devices and the supposed (and nonexistent) "technological addictions", or the problem that It states that certain undoubtedly positive innovations such as social networks are mostly in the hands of companies with harmful and unsustainable business models in the medium term.

The same type of problems arise for me, for example, companies that are taking the decision to adopt or not tools such as Facebook Workplace for internal communication or WhatsApp for communication with customers, or simply use Facebook regularly for their advertising. Should we give up advertising on Facebook or implement WhatsApp for Business because we know that it is more than possible and even probable that the information of those customers who communicate with our company is exploited maliciously, abused, stolen or transferred to third parties? The decision is complex, especially if the environment in which a significant part of our business develops is a country in which the level of implementation of these tools is massive. But that we have to make it obligatory for the success of an adoption process does not mean that we should not take into account which poisoned partner we are working with and the risks that this entails, that we do not propose alternatives and we monitor their level of popularity, or that let's try to minimize risks, both reputational and otherwise.

With the next merger that the company of Zuckerberg raises of its different networks, it is possible that we continue to find that using Facebook systems is inevitable. But the conscience begins to be so clear that it is more than possible not only that the authorities oppose this merger for what it supposes with respect to privacy, but that we see the adoption of Facebook and WhatsApp, or even that , fed up with so much scandal, we start to look worse and worse at the companies that advertise in them. Becoming a "free Facebook business" is not something that can be done overnight. But given the circumstances, that does not mean that we should not be thinking about it.

And still, the approach should not be to abandon social networks, but to abandon those social networks whose business model involves spying us to the limit and exploiting the data obtained with a model lacking any ethical standard. Social networks are here to stay. It is only a matter of time before alternatives arise.