I think it’s an almost universally accepted fact that people are sick of the term Web 2.0. It’s one of those buzzwords that has been co-opted to fit just about anything new online in the last couple of years. It reminds me of the feeling you get when you say a word 100 times out loud: the term loses all meaning.

Here’s the wikipedia definition of Web 2.0:

Web 2.0 is a phrase coined by O’Reilly Media in 2003[1] ( and later popularized by the first Web 2.0 conference in 2004[2]) in reference to a perceived second generation of web-based communities and hosted services — such as social-networking sites, wikis and folksonomies — which facilitate collaboration and sharing between users. O’Reilly Media titled a series of conferences around the phrase, and it has since become widely adopted.

An article yesterday on Read/WriteWeb, Richard MacManus points to Google CEO Eric Shmidt, who attempted to define Web 3.0. From the RWW article:

After first joking that Web 2.0 is “a marketing term”, Schmidt launched into a great definition of Web 3.0. He said that while Web 2.0 was based on Ajax, Web 3.0 will be “applications that are pieced together” - with the characteristics that the apps are relatively small, the data is in the cloud, the apps can run on any device (PC or mobile), the apps are very fast and very customizable, and are distributed virally (social networks, email, etc).

2.0, 3.0, 10.0, the terms don’t matter. What matters is the fact that the web is changing, and in some pretty significant ways, and I think it’s for the better. Though absolutely not an exhaustive list, here are a few changes that aren’t just passing fads. They are fundamental shifts in the way we will interact with the web and each other:

1. Social Networking- While sites and services that offer “social networking” may come and go, the practice of social networking is here to stay. Communities will continue to form and share interests and contact. Friends will want to connect to friends and send each other videos. They will leave comments for each other. This will not disappear.

I think that social networking and “social media” are two terms that have also suffered from confusion and overuse. At this point, the answer to almost any marketing/promotion question is: “Social Networking.” People understandably misunderstand the central tenet of social networking and social media: people want to get together to talk about things they like. People want to connect. If you have something great, and people want to talk about it, you’ve won. But forcing your product/service into a social network is akin to trying to walk into a birthday party to sell your junk to people that just want to talk to each other.

As long as we have some element of humanity left, we’ll want to connect with others. It’s just the way we are.

2. Privacy- As a result of the many things in many places approach, we are forced to give up (whether actively or passively) information about ourselves to online service operators. This brings up some significant privacy concerns that are only beginning to be discussed. It’s a big deal.

I remember back when privacy was the loudest discussion online. I remember when dropping cookies was a no-no. At some non-specific point in time, that seems to have disappeared. A new privacy discussion is about to surface.

3. Discovery- We’ve moved from scavengers to a group of overwhelmed digital “sorters.” Instead of actively seeking out an answer to our question, we’re now being inundated with noise. Finding what’s relevant and what we’ll enjoy is increasingly difficult, and not because it’s not out there. It’s that there’s too much stuff, and not enough time to filter through the noise to get to the good stuff. [Full disclosure: I know a certain group of people that are working on the solution to this right now. Ahem. ]

4. Portability- I want to take my “stuff” (yes, I use the term too much) with me wherever I go. My music, my documents, my preferences, my everything (except my cat. he can stay home). It’s almost inconceivable that my digital possessions have to live on one device. And forget a USB drive- It’s just not happening. I want to ubiquitous portablilty.

5. Security- Oh, and can I get an order of industrial grade security with my portability? Okay,thanks.

6. Loyalty- In the age of cutthroat competition, loyalty will come into question. Myspace users are different than facebook users, and this means something. Sure, there’s overlap, I get it. But I think most people have a preference for either Digg or Reddit. They’re either Facebook or Myspace. Pownce or Twitter.

Since copying a new feature is so easy to do on the web, service operators will need to work on building loyalty within their user base. They will need to convince their loyalists that the time and energy they’ve invested will continue to provide a healthy return. If not, they’ll go the way of Friendster. Heard of it?

7. Platform Independence- Like portability, platform independence is a must. I may have a mac and a PC at home, an iPhone in my pocket (okay, that’s just a wish), a linux box in my closet, and some beer in the fridge, and if I can’t get all my online stuff to work on all of them (ok, not the beer.), what good is that? If I can get online, I should be able to have the same experience on any of my machines. Period.

8. Sharability- If I find something I like, I want to be able to share it. Make it easy for me. I am an early adopter and my ego requires it. I feel a tremendous amount of shame if a friend shows me a YouTube video I have not yet seen. And a tremendous amount of pride and validation when I show someone a blog they haven’t seen before. Pathetic? Maybe. True? Absolutely.

9. Reputation- We will no longer be passengers on this ride we’re calling the web. We are now active participants with personas and reputations. And with the transparency, ease of sharing, and access, saying something stupid can be deadly. An off-color joke on a profile can cause you a job. Managing your online identity will be increasingly important from now until, um, forever.

10. Cohesive Independence- Before you even grumble, forgive me. That’s a terrible term, but I can’t think of anything better offhand. The idea is that the last iteration of web app philosophy was to do one thing and do it really, really well. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that approach, and it seems to help develop better single task apps. But there’s one big problem inherent in this approach: you (the app user) have all your apps in many different places, each with a different login/pass, etc. We need a central point of entrance for all the great independent applications that we love. Will it be something on the desktop that connects with the online services? Will it be another online aggregator? I don’t have that answer, but someone will. This is one of those problems that is just begging for an answer.

Let’s not worry about what we’re going to call the next iteration of the web. Let’s just solve the problems of the current one. Then we can all get together, eat cake, and come up with a funny name while we celebrate our awesomeness.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 8th, 2007 at 1:54 pm and is filed under Content Discovery, Media Delivery, Random Thoughts, Social Networking. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.