Socialcast, the enterprise microblogging platform, thinks that HR and C-level executives deserve extra recognition in the corporate status stream. Its new Broadcast Message feature gives announcements by higher-ups priority if they want it, effectively creating the Reply All of the micro-messaging world.
For a startup whose entire value proposition is software that transforms work, the idea of enabling preexisting corporate hierarchies is an ill-considered move. Corporate hierarchy is what makes the enterprise tick, no doubt about it. But in communication, what’s needed is reducing noise, not the means to create more of it.
For our bet, the best part of enterprise microblogging is that every employee decides what messages they receive. The ability to filter and follow selectively within the company is the feature that makes it more attractive than email.
By allowing your boss or HR to bypass your filter and broadcast a message to you in Socialcast, the platform kills what there is to love about a Twitter for the enterprise. Though Socialcast’s powerful content sharing and aggregation abilities go far beyond what Yammer and other competitors in this space offer, this is a step backwards for how 2.0 your enterprise can get with their software. If CEOs want to grab your attention for company-wide announcements, that’s what reply all is for.
Who knows, we could be wrong. Broadcasting messages could drive enterprise decision makers — the ones who sign the checks for IT solutions — wild with ecstasy. But for everyone else, any functionality that gives someone else more power to waste your time is a major buzzkill.
