Web 2.0 Overload Comin' At Ya!
Think about it: There are HUNDREDS of these "Web 2.0" sites that have sprung up in the last year or eighteen months. Most of them are simply re-works of existing concepts: Video sharing, Social Bookmarking, Feed Reading, and so on. They are all competing for the same set of eyeballs, more or less.
Think about the "Web 2.0" sites that you really, really use consistently. I know which ones i use:
Google Reader
Digg
Del.icio.us
Google personalized home page
Flickr (infrequently, though i do have some photos there)
YouTube (I just visit)
Live.com (mostly just visit)
-- That's about it, the "Short list". Sure, i look at the new ones. But almost without exception, I visit once or twice, determine if I am really interested, and you never see me there again.
When I look at this list, there are really only 3 that I ever use consistently:
Digg, mostly for entertainment, because it's populated in the main by 20 and 30 -something Liberal geeks, and I am a bit older and more conservative, so I enjoy smacking them with my non-Liberal "make you think" comments.
Del.icio.us, because it delivers. It delivers bookmarking, tagging, and searching. It's simple, it's fast, and it works. If I've bookmarked something, it's easy to see how many others have done so, and more importantly, it's easy to find similar content based on either a search, or the tags I've assigned. If you look at the bottom of this post, I've got a "Social Link This Page" link that has dozens of these sites on it. The only ones I ever use from the list are Digg and Delicious.
Google Personalized Home Page. Speaks for itself.
What's my point? It's that unless you have a really compelling concept and the abilty to execute it with style, you don't earn my eyeballs. Period!
In fact, right now --- of all the so-called "Web 2.0" offerings in the marketplace, I'd have to say that Google's Personalized Home page is my favorite. Why? Simple- it helps me keep what I need to see and am interested in right in front of my face. It does so easily, I can change it, and it has tabs so I can have plenty of my "Stuff" - whether it's headlines, feeds, Digg, my Gmail inbox, NASA space shot of the day - whatever I want - right on my home page.
And you know what? People's home pages are where their eyeballs are at, pal. If you have a formula that earns you the right to be somebody's home page, you are King Webtard! Anything less, and you are simply swimming with all the other Web 2.0 fish in the pond and chances are slim you'll ever see the eyeballs in any substantial way.
Think about it. Most of this other stuff, no matter how sexy it may seem right now, will be completely gone within one to two years. Del.icio.us will most likely still be here. Google Home page will certainly be. Flickr, YouTube, probably. The others? Heh. Bach's been dead 365 years and he's still popular. Miles Davis's Kind of Blue album came out 45 years ago; it still sells 5000 new copies every week. Web 2.0 sites? -- don't hold your breath.
I leave you with this question to ponder: If all this is Web 2.0, what will Web 3.0 be like, and when will we see it?
Think about the "Web 2.0" sites that you really, really use consistently. I know which ones i use:
Google Reader
Digg
Del.icio.us
Google personalized home page
Flickr (infrequently, though i do have some photos there)
YouTube (I just visit)
Live.com (mostly just visit)
-- That's about it, the "Short list". Sure, i look at the new ones. But almost without exception, I visit once or twice, determine if I am really interested, and you never see me there again.
When I look at this list, there are really only 3 that I ever use consistently:
Digg, mostly for entertainment, because it's populated in the main by 20 and 30 -something Liberal geeks, and I am a bit older and more conservative, so I enjoy smacking them with my non-Liberal "make you think" comments.
Del.icio.us, because it delivers. It delivers bookmarking, tagging, and searching. It's simple, it's fast, and it works. If I've bookmarked something, it's easy to see how many others have done so, and more importantly, it's easy to find similar content based on either a search, or the tags I've assigned. If you look at the bottom of this post, I've got a "Social Link This Page" link that has dozens of these sites on it. The only ones I ever use from the list are Digg and Delicious.
Google Personalized Home Page. Speaks for itself.
What's my point? It's that unless you have a really compelling concept and the abilty to execute it with style, you don't earn my eyeballs. Period!
In fact, right now --- of all the so-called "Web 2.0" offerings in the marketplace, I'd have to say that Google's Personalized Home page is my favorite. Why? Simple- it helps me keep what I need to see and am interested in right in front of my face. It does so easily, I can change it, and it has tabs so I can have plenty of my "Stuff" - whether it's headlines, feeds, Digg, my Gmail inbox, NASA space shot of the day - whatever I want - right on my home page.
And you know what? People's home pages are where their eyeballs are at, pal. If you have a formula that earns you the right to be somebody's home page, you are King Webtard! Anything less, and you are simply swimming with all the other Web 2.0 fish in the pond and chances are slim you'll ever see the eyeballs in any substantial way.
Think about it. Most of this other stuff, no matter how sexy it may seem right now, will be completely gone within one to two years. Del.icio.us will most likely still be here. Google Home page will certainly be. Flickr, YouTube, probably. The others? Heh. Bach's been dead 365 years and he's still popular. Miles Davis's Kind of Blue album came out 45 years ago; it still sells 5000 new copies every week. Web 2.0 sites? -- don't hold your breath.
I leave you with this question to ponder: If all this is Web 2.0, what will Web 3.0 be like, and when will we see it?
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