IFTT is an internet tool. You know what they do these tools: they make things easier. If you attend scholar conferences on Facebook and Twitter you might have heard a formula like “industrialisation of the self-publicity” to name the way the content management systems and forms are pushing us to reveal info about ourselves almost without thinking about it.
Well IFTT is pushing the logic to the next level. If Facebook is the industrialisation of self-communication, IFFT enters its post-industrial, late capitalism phase. Basically IFFT allows anyone to easily build chains of commands that will link together actions on the web. It acts pretty much like a meta social network. For example if you save an image on your Fffound account, IFTTT will help you have an automatic tweet status saying something like “I just found out this picture from XXX and I like it + link”.
Obviously it goes against the whole “conversational” paradigm and the idea that the most valuable social media optimisation comes from human engagement in discussions. But if you want to fill in your Tumblr page with content effortlessly, it might be a good idea and it will save you some time. The possibilities aren’t endless but they’re enough to be quite fascinating.