Web 2.0: Blogs. MySpace. Facebook. Twitter. Flickr. Wikis. Digg. Social Networking. Sharable Content. Why is this mechanism so successful? The answer lies deeper than the ability to be “social” or to “create communities”.
One factor of Web 2.0 success is the ability of companies to be able to commercially exploit the “me”: What the “me” is doing. What the “me” thinks of things. What the “me” contributes to the conversation. In fact, by the mere action of me publishing this blog entry, my “me” is guilty of participation as well. Thank you, Blogger.
Let’s look at Egoism - Bouts of selfishness can be seen as an attempt by the ego craving to gain attention by others; An attempt to place value for their own welfare or advantage at the expense of those around them. In most circles of society in years past, such behavior was seen as a violation of certain rules of etiquette or courtesy. New Web 2.0 social mediums allow for new social rules and behavior to be created and accepted. This revised and new set of acceptable behavior are governed and promoted by those who create the new medium.
Intentionally or not, this is what has happened: Society has created this Web 2.0 (commercially successful) vehicle that feeds the ego of every participant and, at the same time, allows the process to be a socially acceptable behavior. What Ego could refuse the opportunity to spread its own self opinion to the WORLD without the fear of it being considered bad-mannered?
Now that the critical mass of the technological evolution in our society has arrived, and that computer technology has become part of everyday life to most people, new methods of communicating with each other can be developed and implemented. The new social web 2.0 portals that are created usually have success based on their popularity. Is it not surprising that creating a mechanism of an ego feeding machine to the masses would be successful? The more one feeds (or exploits) the “me”, the more successful that Web 2.0 franchise will be.
