Head Tale

MetaFilter is having one of its periodic debates about Web 2.0.  As I mentioned the last time I talked about this, young, web-savvy types are supposed to be cynical about everything, especially what they see as marketing-driven buzzwords like Web 2.0 (read the thread for more insight.)

Still, one comment in that thread caught my eye, not least of all because it's in handy-dandy list format. (Yay, lists!  They make information meaningful!  )

IMHO,
web-double-ought is important because it's now a cultural movement,
albeit mostly vain, shallow, and superficial.



Instead of worrying about how you make money off of it, howsabout we look at the potential benefits to society?



1. UGC is a big deal to Old Media because it's free content. And just
like Hollywood, the “best” content will rise to the top and translate
to old media. But those millions of people who are “practicing”
writing, or YouTubing, or photoshopping, or collaborating on things are
cumulatively adding to society, and gaining skills that are
transferable in the workplace, plus they most likely are learning
something new that they are enjoying.

2. Wisdom of Crowds: Individuals are dumb, markets are efficient, and
crowds can be smart (and dangerous). But democracy is a messy thing. We
pay a lot of attention to stock markets, Vegas, futures markets, and
prediction exchanges, don't we?

3. Examining big data can mean new discoveries. It can also mean false positives (ie. MySpace sex offenders).

4. The greater the level of engagement (or interaction, for people),
the stronger their feelings, and the more likely they are to link it to
positive emotions. Doing online research to pick the camera you want
and reading the opinions of others may likely cause you to enjoy the
purchase more afterwards.

5. Network effects: When you are composing a MeFi post, how useful is
del.icio.us versus Google for finding those esoteric BOTW links?

6. Openness: More transparency = more trust. If you share everything,
then you have nothing to hide (within reason). And allowing other
people to “mashup” your data gives you new ways to look at things, new
insights, and potentially new opprtunities for monetization.



Web 2.0 might be a pretentious buzzword, but it's a part of the culture now, which means it can become a real force for change.