More On The Geek Audience
In my last post, I wrote a bit about early adopters of new web technologies and the fact that a lot of these services tend to appeal to the "web geeks". Ellyssa Kroski at Infotangle has written a nice article about the concept of "technology cheerleader", and how difficult it is to show the average user just how much there is to gain by embracing the "new web".
I got my dad to use Firefox, and he likes it a lot better than Internet Explorer. He's expressed interest in starting a blog, to keep friends and family updated on events in his life. But I doubt he'd be interested in RSS feeds, OPML files, or "social bookmarking". I know people who are online a lot, but they spend most of their time playing MMO's. Everyone's expectations are different.
Probably the main reason I started this blog was because I couldn't find anyone else around me who cared about this stuff. What makes the idea of community on the web so appealing is there are lots of other people out there just like me. However, just being a part of a community doesn't make you eloquent. As mentioned last time, I had a hard time explaining "Web 2.0" to my peers at school. It wasn't the technological but the conceptual that defied easy explanation. Knowledge is pretty meaningless if you can't communicate it to others. And all I wanted to do is convey how cool and exciting all this new technology was.
Communities are safe. Communities are insulated. Communities bring people together, and break them apart. I've seen people refer to being "in the space" when talking about the "new web". There's something about this term that bothers me, though I haven't exactly figured out why. I understand the rationalization but it seems somewhat elitist to me, like a special place only smart kids can understand. What can we do to break out of this? Which tools will move from "cool" to "useful"? Will the innovations we are seeing fundamentally change the way the average person uses the web or will they just be interpolated transparently into the same old shells? And will these changes come from love of technology and community or a startup's exit strategy? I think the concepts will far outlive the moniker-especially one with so many interpretations.
Thoughts?
May 20, 2006 at 5:30 am
Hi!
Well, I believe you’re right. Most of what’s aroud the Web2.0 is all about a small community of “geeks”… But wasn’t the same at the very beginning of the web version 1.0?
There are about a hundred social networking sitesand even more “communities”. At one point some will prevail, becoming mainstream, and facing the interest of many more people.
And the “geeks” will move forward to establish a web 3.0 and so on. Or?
S:
May 20, 2006 at 6:19 am
Thanks for your thoughts, sirJoe!
I believe that a techie “natural selection” will occur, where the (hopefully) best technologies will survive and thrive beyond their original uses. You’re right about early adopters-where would any of this web stuff be without them? We’ve seen this time and time again. I only hope that the more exciting social and collaborative aspects are not merely a fad.
Chris
May 20, 2006 at 1:42 pm
Hi Chris,
I have to agree with sirJoe, I believe that as with 1.0, 2.0 will expand to the general masses. You only have to take a look at YouTube, the amount of people on there that are obviously not “techies” is astounding. It was just yesterday that a friend, who wouldn’t know Web2.0 from eating a cheeseburger - said “you know that youtube site? I was on it all day yesterday, I even missed an appointment over it!”.
I think because 2.0 has expanded at such a rate, we naturally assume it will be adopted at the same rate. Time will tell, but I believe it is only a matter of time to see the masses adopt 2.0 as the norm.
Regards as always,
Matt Harwood