Social media. Social networking. Sharing. Buzzwords, the lot of them.
Apps have a way of progressing over time. Bugs are fixed, features are revised, features are added. This benefits everyone — who wouldn't want to use better software?
The problem is knowing when to stop. How do you know if you have enough features? When does your application go too far, do too much, and cease to resemble its original self?
Evernote
Take Evernote. I've been an Evernote user for as long as I've had an iPhone. My usage of it has changed over time (I no longer store text notes in Evernote; now I use Notational Velocity) — but it's been a great way for me to store different types of information.
Store information.
Storing information is what Evernote does. That's what it was designed to do. That's why it exists.
Sharing and Sharks
The latest version of Evernote for Windows has, as I like to say, jumped over a shark. (Yes, I know the correct saying is "jumped the shark," but my way is better.) Now you can share your Evernote notes on Twitter and Facebook.
Evernote was never designed to be "social." I don't store things in Evernote so I can share them with others — I store them for my reference. Things like clips of web pages to reference later. Receipts. Things that are for me, and not the world at large.
I can't help but think, what's next? Will Bank of America add sharing buttons? I can picture it now, you're looking at your bank statement online, and get prompted to "Share this purchase." Does anyone really care that I spend too much on Apple flavored products?
Sharing buttons have their place. Their place is not in Evernote. And I won't welcome them when they finally show up in the Mac version.