The new “in thing” – bash Web 2.0

A minor bit of a rant…

Sometimes the blogosphere is like a pack of school kids, always rushing to be part of the next big “in thing”. 6 months ago you were “in” if you talked up “Web 2.0”. Now you’re a naive idealististic sheep.

The “in thing” now is to bash/ridicule/snort condescension at Web 2.0 and those who push it. That makes you cool, trendy, someone who sees beyond the hype and really “gets it”. You “get it” if you come up with witty cynicisms like “Bubble 2.0”, if you rip on startups in secret betas with “give us your email address and we might let you in” home pages. You “get it” if you declare publicly that you will never utter the phrase Web 2.0, implying those who do are heels.

Whatever.

People hype things all the time, and they latch onto names because it gives them something tanglible to refer to, to throw their support behind, to believe in. You can debate endlessly about what exactly Web 2.0 really means, if it is a VC/marketing/PR/insert-your-boogey-man-here construct, whether it’s another $2 billion-for-the-talking-sock-puppet bubble or something with lasting impact.

All that is so much chatter. What IS real is that there is a vast amount of energy being generated right now on the Web and in this business. New companies are sprouting up daily, twisted ideas for using technology to be social online are paradoxically being discussed at newly reinvigorating face-to-face gatherings. People who might never leave the house are creating whole identies online (some good, some bad, all new).

So what if 99% of the companies and technologies being created will either fail, get subsumed by one of the big guys, or slowly fade into disuse, obscurity, or even mild derision (“we used THAT? what will my kids say in ten years?”). Maybe 99% really does = “the bubble”.

But that 1% is why we are all in this business. 1% will fundamentally change how we use the Web, how we think about social interaction online, how we express ourselves, how we connect with people, places, and ideas a world away. That 1% has already fundamentally and forever empowered a generation to speak for themselves online – and be heard. That 1% is helping crash open many a gilded tower so a vast group of “amateurs” can rush in.

I love that 1%. It’s what makes me so damn excited to scan through a couple hundred feeds each morning, just to get a glimpse of what might be new today. Call this whole thing “Web 2.0” and claim you can see the bubble and hype for what it truly is – fine. That’s part of being trendy. But whatever you call it, try to step back and take some delight in the explosion of creativity happening all around you.

“Web 2.0” isn’t about some arbitrary set of technologies, it’s an extraordignary time we are living in. And because the history geek in me loves being able to refer to broad swaths of time by some catchy name, and because I like being able to explain in simple terms what I’m so excited about, I choose to call this particular moment of history “Web 2.0”.

By doing so, I embrace that I am not trendy (or at least 6 months behind trendy), that I may get labeled some raging irrational idealist, or worse, just another poor soul who buys into the hype. Big deal. If you disagree, you can blog about it or my comments are open (a Web 2.0 invention, of course).

In the meantime I have to go pile back on Bandwagon 2.0 and go for a hell of a ride.

[UPDATE: I wasn’t going to link to any one post that inspired this, but it happened to be this one by Halley Suitt – I like Halley’s blog, just this one post got me. I’m linking to it now because of the great comments by Jory, Anne, and Tara in the thread. To quote from Tara: “Yes, too much drinking our own koolaid. Yes, hype hype hype. Yes, greedy people circling like a pack of wolves. But that doesn't mean that the underlying principles aren't pure and new and hopeful.” Cheers.]