Do you believe in the Bougie Man? You shouldn't. My previous post was a gag. There really isn't a new social media app called "Bougie". Earlier in the afternoon after watching all of the chatter around real technologies with peculiar sounding names such as Pownce, Spock, Ziggs etc. it got me thinking about how we respond to the latest "thing".
After talking about the pretend service on Twitter—I got some requests for invites via direct message. Each time I got a request, I immediately told the person it was a gag and asked if they wanted to play along. And so the "myth" of Bougie spread. No one questioned the name because in the 2.0 world we live it, it sounds just right. Every time we turn around—there's something new to try. Something that promises to do wonderful things for us. I picked the name from a medical dictionary. Apparently a Bougie is a tube like instrument used in medical procedures. It also has several "urban definitions".
So it started as a gag—but as my partners in crime joined into the game—you could see the viral roots start to take hold. An interesting experiment—and I'm not sure exactly what the lessons are. Maybe it has something to do with our desire to be a part of the next big thing. Maybe it says something about how much we value our "personal filters"—the people who we look to. Maybe it also says something about the willingness to play along. As I invited each person individually—they became a part of the story. We improvised on the spot. It probably says something about myself as I invested more time in this silly spoof than actually investigating Pownce which Chris Cree was kind enough to invite me to—(I did get so far as to register).
So to be clear, "Bougie" does not exist in the context of the latest social media application. But we've all probably believed in a Bougie at one point or another. I know I have.
