[Air-l] how to pin down web 2.0

[Hugemusic]

Alexis wrote:

> So, yeah, maybe things started out that way, but by its very nature, 
> doesn't Web
> 2.0 just scream to corporations to look
> at it - after all, what more could an investor want than to know, up 
> front, that
> millions of customers are clamoring for a product?  By its very 
> collaborative
> nature, any remotely succesful Web 2.0 "product," "service," or "platform" 
> is
> going to ask to become corporatized, because it already has a devoted
> community.  Or customer base, if your eye is bent to looking at it in 
> those
> terms. Corporations take what's good about 2.0 and twist it to their own 
> ends.
> At the end of the day, then, you may be part of a community and enjoy all 
> the
> perks therein, but the food's provided by McDonald's.
> -Alexis

Spot on, but that's because the *term* Web 2.0 was created as a branding 
strategy for corporations to exploit the *phenomenon* of Web 2.0, which did 
not have a neat brand until it was given one (and arguably still doesn't). 
The term is shorthand and doesn't fit neatly with all examples of what 
various people would call Web 2.0 sites -- but the term's primary purpose 
was to create a label for something that began organically but (like most 
socially successful things) was becoming commercially significant. Not 
everything that could be described as "Web 2.0" has any real commercial 
significance, but if the handle fits and you want interest, it's a useful 
lever for gaining attention.

Also, there's the very real prospect that commercial involvement will 
destroy the very fabric of many Web 2.0 efforts.  I'm still sure (but less 
so than I was) that Murdoch is going to destroy MySapce in spite of his own 
best efforts.  He's nearly done it already and it was only the founders who 
saved him. Time will tell.

The point being that it's essential to separate the phenomenon of Web 2.0 
from the sloppy and hyped use of the term Web 2.0.  The two are not 
necessarily the same thing and mean different things to people with 
different intentions ...

Cheers,
Hughie