The Keene View on Web 2.0, Ajax and SaaS

Just like in the 60's (but I suspect we had less fun this time around), social media excess has inevitably led to social media disillusionment.

As all technical wonders, it started with the delight of seeing how many people want to be your friend, some of whom you actually know. There was also the added titillation of all those MySpace friend requests from users with names like Lola, Estelle and Nichole.

Of course it all had to end in tears, as we found that our LinkedIn friends were only using us to get a new job, that our Facebook friends were only using us prove that they were still more popular than us and that our MySpace friends charged for their services.

Or in kindergarten terms, we have gone from wandering all over the playground asking everyone else, "will you be my friend" to the pre-emptive exclusion of sitting in the corner and declaring "you're not my friend" to all comers.

The behavior that constitutes friendship varies dramatically based on context. My favorite example was when my sister was in 2nd grade and arrived home announcing that she had a new boyfriend. When I asked her how she knew, she replied "he's my boyfriend because he threw a pear at me on the way home."

Every context has different rules for being "friends" - much of the fun of social media is that we are getting to live through a global learning process around the rules that apply to friendship in a variety of new communication environments. As Rob La Gesse points out here,

This goes back to "context" - something these social network sites are not managing very well. I should be able to check my levels of interest in various aspects of soccer (player, coach, parent, investor, etc) and communications and friend requests should take this information into account when handling requests.

ps Thanks to Shel Israel for kicking off this train of thought with a question he posted on Facebook here.

Labels: facebook, Peter Case, Shel Israel, social media

Shel Israel has a good post in which he interviews Chris Shipley of Demo fame on the significance of social media and Web 2.0. She says:

I do think that the rapid and broad dissipation of power/influence/control
that is at the core of social media (Web 2.0?) is as fundamental a shift as from
mainframe to mini and mini to PC. When power moves from central
control out to the edges, things change dramatically and forever. This
Genie isn't going back into the bottle. Full article here

This puts a pretty profound spin on the effect these technologies can have on how applications are developed in the enterprise. If Enterprise Web 2.0 tools allow more business-focused developers to be more effective in building business apps, IT can start to have a much more decisive effect on the business.

I would add to Chris Shipley's comment two additional predictions about how collaboration and Web 2.0 will drive business change:

1. Collaboration technologies will improve the developer/user dialogue to produce a better understanding of user requirements
2. Lightweight prototyping tools will enable more iterative development to product products that better meet business needs.

ps I got a chuckle out of this Web 2.0 love letter - who would have thought that all these wacky company names could be turned to such good use!?

Labels: Chris Shipley, Shel Israel, social media, Web 2.0