Mood

: RIP Web 2.0

The term web 2.0 was first presented at a conference of the same name organized by Tim O'Reilly. Tim credits Dale Dougherty, a VP at the company, with coining the name). The original Web 2.0 conference was held in October 2004 to talk about the state of Internet companies in the post-bubble world. Following the conference, Tim O'Reilly wrote an article called “What is Web 2.0" and the name stuck.
http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html

At that time in 04' & 05', I would credit Tim and his group for taking the bull by the horns, giving it a name, and defining it. It was certainly a rough time for Internet companies between 2001-04', there was a lot of really healthy fallout from the burst, and this may have been a strategy not only by Tim and his group to be the Web 2.0 Authority, but their message helped bring confidence back to the investor circles, Wall Street, Internet Services Companies, traditional business, and consumers. The term and the map brought a new phase of the Internet. It was timing and smarts on their part. The term took off, and became a marketing buzz word that Internet Service Companies started using as being on the "Leading Edge" of design, technology, marketing, tradeshows, etc...

Today I notice a similar state of confusion around the title "Social Media" happening among brand managers/buyers/marketers, and debate among internet social media "experts" (loosely) about, "what Social Media is"? Most understand their brand needs a Twitter and a Facebook account, however there is much more too it. In addition, there are now thousands of "Social Media Experts" in the field, most without a client list or one project they have done, maybe other then self promotion. No one person, team or company has stepped up to become the authority in Social Media; to me there is an opportunity.

Web 2.0 is definitely done. It has been for years in my professional opinion because the core Internet infrastructure and the scripting languages have evolved 1 mil fold since 04'.

I tend to chuckle to myself when I hear about a company still using that in their event title or company tagline, or press release. Not to discredit them, but its definitely time to either move on to Web 2.00001 at least and define that or it is really simply a fad / buzz word and we should all move on.

R. Steven Williams
http://www.rstevenwilliams.com

Reply

: This is so "inside the bubble". don't you realize that the rest of the world has just discovered, Twitter and and Facebook? Those of us who have been using Web 2.0 services for the last 5 years are "so over it." The rest of the "unwashed masses" are just getting their taste and adding their spin. While some Web 2.0 projects like Pownce may have run their course, it the words of Mr. T, there's "a lotta mo".

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: The previous two comments reflect exactly why I wrote the blog post in the first place. Depending on whether you're "in the bubble" or outside it, how long you've used social media and whether or not you're a practitioner, your perspective will vary considerably. I don't really care what it's called, what's important is that it's full potential is yet to be realized and hope folks don't dismiss it too soon in their rush to get on to the next big thing.

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