Slippy is really just a ‘cute’ word for frictionless. Lives, ideas, content and conversations are in constant flow. Rather than always disrupt that flow, a slippy idea can ride the waves and spread very quickly. That current is waiting to take ideas that are happy to get carried by it.

To continue entertaining the comparison between sticky and slippy, I’d argue that stickiness is something that you want to kick in afterwards, once the idea has been fired off again by the recipient. Like the fast food for thought concept, you want people to be left with a lasting impression even if their interaction with your ‘meme’ was fleeting.

P.s. I had your eggwatchers testimonial tattooed on my left buttock. You’re a legend.

Slippy ideas are the direct result of the fast, info-super-highway culture of the (social) web. without getting to bogged into semantics all the characteristics of what previously thought of as a sticky idea (simple, easy to describe/understand, instant gratification) are at work here.

We hardly have time/attention for immersive ideas anymore. I mean of course we do (reading books, playing World of Warcraft, watching The Wire etc) but Twitter, or snack culture created and amplified our crave for 1-3 doses of sticky/slippy ideas a day.

(1)you stumble upon – (2)you like (“aha!”, “funny!” “smart!”) – (3)you inclined to pass on – (4)you forget about because new one has arrived on your stream – and back to (1)

From a marketing perspective slippy ideas are the currency of the present – smart brands need to put some $$ aside for the development of constant stream (drip drip) of cheap, clever, throwaway ideas.

PS – i was the first one to write about eggwatcher – where’s my link? ;-)