There's an inverse relationship between a company's ability to communicate well and its public use of jargon.

Facebook is a good example. Smart people run the company, but their communication with the world is usually pretty awful.

From my vantage point at a packed coffee shop in Austin this weekend, Facebook's familiar interface illuminated laptop screens on multiple tables. The scene was a typical cross-section of the site's users.

But very few, if any, of the people behind those laptops would describe Facebook to their friends as a "social utility," as Facebook describes itself on its home page.

Jargon is easy. Simple is hard.

Update: Jennifer weighs in on how jargon creates a cloak of online obscurity.