Last night, the mesh gang broke bread with three of the b5media crew (if you get a chance, you have to eat at The Big Ragu in Toronto). One of the many topics in an enjoyable evening was how long the current excitement surrounding Web 2.0 can last. Stuart MacDonald - of mesh fame ™, argued the end is near after what he contends has been a fantastic three-year run, and wondered whether anything really new and exciting is happening these days. His assertion may be true except for the fact there are so many relatively fresh concepts - virtual worlds, social networks, user-generated content, etc. - that are just starting to gain momentum. Who knows, for example, how or if virtual worlds will evolve. Second Life could become another mainstream communications medium for personal and corporate activity, compared with his current roots as a strange place where people pimp their cars and buy virtual clothes. User-generated content such as blog networks could stand shoulder to shoulder with traditional medium as trusted destinations for news and information. One thing is for certain, the excitement surrounding the Web these days is palpable and infectious. The mesh meet-up earlier this week demonstrated people are truly excited about what's happening now and the possibilities down the road. The encouraging part is it's a different kind of buzz than during the dot-com boom when the focus was on "show me the money" (premature IPOs, venture-backed back-of-the-napkin business plans) and good times (swag, open bars, junkets). Today, people just to be involved. Sure, many of them would like to make some serious coin but there just seems to be a participation wave going on. Rather than sit on the sidelines, people are jumping into the Internet any way they can. Some (like me!) join Web start-ups, others such as fellow mesh gang member Rob Hyndman break out on their own and set up tech-focused law boutiques and organize conferences, while others such as Globe & Mail reporter (and mesh gang member) Mathew Ingram focus their professional and personal energy on writing about everything Web. In writing about and working within the Web over the past 11 years, the one thing that has never surprised me is the emergence of something new. In the late-1990s when e-commerce and online advertising were all the rage, you wondered what would be next. Lo and behold, Web 2.0 appeared, although it did three or four years after the dot-com bust for it to really take hold. So what's next the next thing to capture the imagination of the instant gratification tech crowd? Is it the intelligent Web (or Web 3.0) as the New York Times proclaimed earlier this month? Any thoughts? (Note: The URL for The Big Ragu has been corrected)
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Mark Evansthe blog - examines the world of telecom and technology from a distinctly Canadian perspective.the person - lives in Toronto, CA with his wife and three children, and works as director of community with PlanetEye Inc. 
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Comments
Re: How Long Can the Web 2.0 Buzz Last?
by
Ankit
on Sat 18 Nov 2006 09:50 AM EST | Permanent Link
>>User-generated content such as blog networks could stand shoulder shoulder with traditional medium as trusted destination for news and information.
"Blog Networks" can definitely stand shoulder to shoulder with traditional media, but not in the current format. The current model is way too old and getting boring. Publishing 100s of blogs under an umbrella and linking them via network wide listing, it’s just not enough. IMO, the blog networks are currently acting like an "AD network". They have to evolve; they have to bring the content generated on their blogs out in the front. Not just asking the readers to click and browse through their offerings. It should be the other way round. The umbrella site should be able to send traffic to all the blogs. If blog networks have to work their way up, they have to seriously think about their current offerings. And the only way I see, is to make readers more involved in the whole blogging process. Re: Re: How Long Can the Web 2.0 Buzz Last?
I'm no lover of the term Web 2.0, but the thought that the current revolution is just some passing phase as would arguments that the telephone,Internet, TV or automobile were passing fads.
Re: How Long Can the Web 2.0 Buzz Last?
by
Ryan Coleman
on Sat 18 Nov 2006 10:11 AM EST | Permanent Link
I wonder Mark if it's the consumer facing side of Web 2.0 is starting to lose it's shine a bit. From an enterprise point of view I think we're still standing on the uphill side of that market and there's a lot of exciting developments to still happen in that space. I suspect we'll start to see the spotlight shift from the generic, mostly consumer oriented "Web 2.0" to the business focused "Enterprise 2.0".... The tech start-up "echo chamber" has certainly started to embrace it but I think the vast majority of business is still trying to wrap their heads around things like online storage & doc management, Wiki's, etc. etc. - There's a lot of exciting change still to come.
Anyone muttering anything about "3.0" needs to sit down and take a breath - we're nowhere near yet. Re: Re: How Long Can the Web 2.0 Buzz Last?
i agree there will be more action within the enterprise. i guess it's hard to generate much interest in the space these days given everyone is still hung over from Y2K, CRM, ERP, etc.
Re: How Long Can the Web 2.0 Buzz Last?
by
Aidan Henry
on Sat 18 Nov 2006 03:23 PM EST | Permanent Link
Hey Mark,
Great article. Here's my take on the whole situation: Thw web 2.0 world is still living in an echo-chamber. The average citizen still doesn't know much about blogs, RSS, podcasts, tagging, wikis, or even companies like Flickr or del.icio.us for that matter. To us, however, these technologies and companies are second nature. I believe that the proliferation of these technologies, trends, and companies into the mainstream public will be the next step. Though web 2.0 itself tends to be hyped, the importance and relevance of these trends and technologies cannot be overstated. Blogging is here to stay. It may evolve, but the basic premise will remain the same. The same goes for wikis, RSS, and the rest of the web 2.0 buzz word gang. Just my two cents, Aidan By the way, I wrote an article about this very topic two weeks ago. You can check it out here: http://www.mappingtheweb.com/2006/11/05/web-20-bubble/ Re: Re: How Long Can the Web 2.0 Buzz Last?
by
AGORACOM
on Sat 18 Nov 2006 09:43 PM EST | Profile | Permanent Link
I whole-heartedly agree with Aidan's point that W20 is still living in an echo-chamber. While most "geeks" are bored with RSS, podcasting, etc., the mainstream is just starting to play with and incorporate them. As such, w'ere going to be in a state of flux until the masses catches up to the few.
Second, I think lack of profit/money/moula/smack is playing a big role in some of the "what's next" thinking out there. Unfortunately, "cool" has proven itself incapable of paying the bills - and people are starting to wonder "what's next". Focus on making some money in W20 and you won't find yourself wondering what's next? Rather, you'll find yourself thinking about "how much more?" and that's always fun! Best, George Re: Re: Re: How Long Can the Web 2.0 Buzz Last?
george,
excellent point about the money. a lot of what's exciting about web 2.0 is all the cool, new services being launched that have, at best, may become nice hobbies but do not have a shot of ever becoming businesses. if that kind of activity disappears, that would be sad. |
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