There's this large trend - I think the next trend in the Web, sort of Web 2.0 - which is to have users really express, offer, and market their own content, their own persona, their identity.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Social media is here to stay, and the social phenomenon that is bringing this about is consumers' willingness to share more about themselves, share more about what they're doing... people are even willing to disclose where they're at. And this phenomenon is going to create huge commerce opportunities on the web.
Since the founding of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other mainstays of what technology writers have come to call 'the social Web' or 'Web 2.0,' a sizable portion of humanity has learned to be together while apart, sacrificing intimacy for control and spontaneity for predictability.
In an online community, there's this kind of social economy between the community members. Some people have status because they make cool skins or that's a good website that's visited a lot, but there's no real gameplay there.
It's insane that people have these Internet identities. It has very little to do with who we really are. As a writer, who I'm friends with, how I spend my time, what I look like, what I wear, what I eat, what kind of music I like - it's totally not important to the work.
There are lots of new products and new services making adding content easier. But there's not many people on the other side helping users digest that content.
The Web 2.0 world is defined by new ways of understanding ourselves, of creating value in our culture, of running companies, and of working together.
It's the beauty of the Web. You can pretend to be anything you want. But people figure out pretty quick if you don't live up to it.
The advent of Google+ and the emergence of the personalized web means this is more true than ever. Brands, and their advertising partners, must wake up to this challenge and define themselves with clarity, consistency and authenticity. Otherwise they just might find themselves shouting in a ghost town.
The model of getting the consumer to come to you is old, and the new model is how can you get to the consumer on their terms, in ways they want to engage in. How people are choosing to interface with content is very different. You've got to marry different platforms.
Web users ultimately want to get at data quickly and easily. They don't care as much about attractive sites and pretty design.