MappingTheWeb //

Web 2.0 is an echo-chamber - let’s face it. Many deny the fact, but it’s true. Ask anyone on the street about RSS, widgets, APIs, or wikis and you’ll get a blank face. Chances are they’ll think you’re speaking another language. Even fairly tech savvy Internet users frown upon such terms and phrases. As much as we’d like to think web 2.0 is mainstream, it isn’t.

Those who live in this echo-chamber glorify the trends and technologies, as their value and potential is recognizable. This bleeding-edge Internet group wants the world to learn about these technologies, but the fact of the matter is that they are very daunting and intimidating to the average user. In other words, web 2.0 needs to be humanized before it can ever be adopted by the mainstream.

Who is leading the pack when it comes to humanizing web 2.0? Facebook. Here is proof: ask any Facebook user if they know what RSS is or if they’ve ever used it? Chances are they have no idea what it is and they’ll admit to never using it. Little do they know, the Facebook ‘News Feed’ is essentially a rebranded RSS reader. Instead of pulling blog posts and news articles, the reader aggregates updates from your friends’ profiles.

This brings me to the most important point of all: Facebook is educating the masses about web 2.0 without them even knowing. In other words, Facebook IS bringing web 2.0 mainstream.

How is Facebook accomplishing such an improbable feat? By rebranding the terms and phrases that seem so daunting and sophisticated. This facilitates the education process and reduces the learning curve, making it easier for regular folk to adopt these technologies.

The term “social network” is synonymous with web 2.0. Though the nature of the term may be rather self-explanatory, people understand it. Sites such as MySpace, hi5, and Friendster have helped to provide clarity around its meaning. This education process is exactly what is happening at Facebook as we speak.

Let’s explore some of the web 2.0 technologies that Facebook has rebranded as internal features:

Wikis - By definition, a wiki is a collaborative space that can be edited by anyone with access to the site. This notion of participation and cooperation creates a more productive, usable information portal for all affiliated members.

Facebook has rebranded this concept as ‘Groups’. Within a given group, you are able to start a conversation (with a message), add photos, and provide simple commentary. Furthermore, administrators and officers have added control and functionality.

Blogs - When a user writes a ‘Note’ on Facebook, they are expressing their thoughts or opinions in a given manner. A collection of these notes, in reverse chronological order, can be classified as a ‘weblog’ or blog.

The offline concept of a diary has been around for centuries. It doesn’t take a huge leap of faith to consider a jump into the online world.

User-Generated Content (UGC) - Once again, the term may seem rather self-explanatory, but it does need some clarification. UGC is content created by the user - it is not production quality. Examples include photos, videos, and audio clips.

Not only does Facebook upload an astonishing amount of photos each day, but they also provide a simple, yet powerful video experience. Simply put, users are constantly interacting with user-generated content. They just don’t know it.  

API - An API is an Application Programming Interface. In other words, it is a way to let others integrate with your service by tapping into your data. This is what Facebook has done with their new ‘F8 Platform’. They’re allowing others the ability to tap into Facebook’s database and create applications which can then be added to the system and adopted by users.

Micro-blogging - This new phenomenon is essentially a mini-form of blogging. Recently made popular by companies such as Twitter and Tumblr, micro-blogging is a way to provide a short message (usually less than 200 characters) about your life, mood, or current state via the web, e-mail, text, or IM. To meet demand in this area, Facebook launched ‘Status Updates’, which is simply another way of labelling micro-blogging.

Widgets - Though the comparison may be a bit rough, it is still worth acknowledging. A widget is an embedded device that provides some level of value to the publisher. This is somewhat akin to what Facebook has done with their ‘F8 Platform’, and more notably ‘Applications’. Once a user adds a given ‘Application’, it appears on their profile page, where other users can see it and interact with it (or even add it themselves).

RSS - The concept of the ‘News Feed’ acting as an RSS reader was outlined above. Having said that, Facebook has started to integrate actual RSS protocol within the site as well. Anyone now has the ability to subscribe (via RSS) to another user’s ‘Notes’, in many cases. I’m sure RSS is being used in other places within the site, but I have just failed to notice them. In any case, I expect the adoption of RSS within the Facebook community to be slow, but steady.

On top of all these obvious examples, Facebook also makes extensive use of AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) throughout the site. This creates a more intuitive, enjoyable user experience.

I could probably go on and on and outline further examples, but I think we can all get a grasp of the situation that is unfolding. What can we learn from all this? Facebook is a rebranding machine. The ability to provide such advanced technologies in a simple manner is truly remarkable. The day that excites me the most is the day that people realize that they understand what all these web 2.0 technologies are. That will be the day that web 2.0 goes mainstream - and I have a funny feeling that that day is coming sooner than we imagine.

This is a question I seem to keep asking myself. Nearly every video site or portal has copied the YouTube interface in some way, shape, or form. The other day, Mashable compared MySpace TV’s new interface to that of YouTube. The verdict: nearly identical. Add to that the fact that foreign YouTube clones are popping up on a daily basis. Again I ask myself, “Does YouTube have the perfect interface?”…

My answer is no. I don’t believe there is such thing as a ‘perfect interface’. There is always room for improvement. Having said that, interfaces should be judged relative or in reference to other players in the space.

I think there are two main reasons why many are copying the YouTube interface:

1. Familiarity - Users are familiar with the YouTube interface. I would wager that 99%+ of regular Internet users have visited YouTube at some point. In other words, people are familiar with the navigation, layout, player, etc… By re-inventing the wheel and designing a completely new experience, users are subject to a learning curve. For this very reason, it can be a huge advantage to copy an interface that is already well-known and mainstream.

2. Budget - Most small start-ups do not possess a huge R&D budget, nor do they have an entire team of interface designers at their disposal. The cost is unjustifiable so early in the process. YouTube, on the other hand, is a large player and has the backing of Google. Simply put, YouTube now has deep pockets and a large talent pool. This allows the company the opportunity to churn out a high quality interface with much testing and tweaking happening behind the scenes.

I guess the conclusion we can pull from all of this is as follows: though it may seem like a questionable, unethical form of business practice to copy such an interface, the subsequent benefits may be appealing to any site looking to enter a given space. I am not vouching for or against this strategy, but rather outlining the perspective from both sides. There is always an opportunity cost to every decision made. By copying a well-known, understood process or system, you are essentially decreasing the learning curve, facilitating the adoption process, and creating a shorter path to critical mass.

Everybody has their own list of web apps they CANNOT live without. These are the essential tools to daily life on the net. I find that my top apps tend to remain the same, although some changes do occur.

Anyways, here is MY list. Be sure to add your apps at the bottom…

10. Wikipedia - my source for information and research (PS. I know it’s not 100% accurate).

9. Digg - informative and entertainging news bits and articles.

8. Skype - allows me to keep in touch with friends, family, and contacts over IM or voice. 

7. Feedburner - keeps track of my RSS feeds and stats. 

6. Clicky - provides in-depth web analytics with a clean, usable interface.

5. iGoogle - displays all my RSS feeds; doubles as my search page. 

4. MSN Messenger / Hotmail - used for IM with friends; web-based e-mail. Ya, ya… I could use GMail, but all my friends use MSN Messenger and it integrates with Hotmail, so give me a break. 

3. Wordpress -  best blogging platform available, in my mind.

2. Firefox - my web browser of choice… obviously. 

1. Facebook - essential social network that keeps track of friends, family, and colleagues.

Just missed the list…

• YouTube - premiere video site on the net; this was tough to leave out of the top 10.
• Craigslist - used often, but on an inconsistent basis.
• Technorati - used for searching blogs quite often.
• Joost - I dabble from time to time…
• MyBlogLog - blog social network; used to use more, but it’s being overrun with SPAM.
• 9rules - my blog network; not so much a tool as it is a tight community.

So, that’s the basis for my life on the net. I’m sure many have similar apps of choice, while others have their own favourites. It will be interesting to look back at a post, such as this, in a year’s time to determine what changes have occurred in our online habits and behaviours. Which companies fell off the list? Which ones were added? The evolution of the Internet will no doubt affect the evolution of our ‘lists’, as new products and services crop up, while others fall by the wayside. Innovation is occurring at a blistering rate and no-one can remain at the top forever.

A limited number of first-time entrepreneurs hit it big and sell their company for millions. Some might call this luck. Less frequently is an entrepreneur able to replicate this feat and sell a second company for a considerable amount. Almost never is one able to do this for a third time. At this point, luck cannot be taken into consideration - a formula has been established.

Niklas Zennstrom co-founded both KaZaA and Skype, two wildly popular Internet successes. He’s on his way to a third success - maybe his biggest yet - with Joost.

A great article was published by BBC the other day. It profiled the mindset and thought process of Zennstrom. This Swedish genius is THE disrupter among disruptive technology disrupters. He identifies an industry with problems and short-comings, then launches a company in an all-out attack. In particular, he has a keen interest in the Internet communication and media areas, as all of his disrupters have spawned from these realms. Here is a simple breakdown:

• Music - KaZaA
• Telephone - Skype
• TV - Joost

What’s next? Something in the radio industry - along the lines of Last.fm or Pandora?

On a side note, his luck with five-letter company names is almost uncanny. Superstition? Strategy? Coincidence? Only Zennstrom really knows.

One thing is for sure. Zennstrom likes being in a position of power. He likes disrupting. Some might call him the shit-disturber of the online world. He is quoted as saying:

“For me, a disruptive technology is only worthwhile if it gives people something they didn’t have or couldn’t do before.”

His motivation and determination are inspirational. He conquers one area, then moves on to another - methodically and systematically. His quest to make things “faster, lighter, or cheaper” is a main driver and source of energy. His never-ending search for the next ‘big thing’ has never been centered around a given product or area, but rather a mentality. Simply put, he wants to give regular consumers a better way of doing something they’re already doing. Thus, he is not looking to re-invent the wheel - just expand upon it.

In an e-mail message from the company, Joost states that they are adding over 40 new channels in the next week. A small sampling of channels to come includes:

• National Geographic
• Adult Swim
• Spike TV
• Heavy
• Hasbro

Already accessible is content from MuchMusic, Virgin, and Alliance Atlantis to name a few.

Joost reiterates that they will be adding new channels on a weekly basis, so stay tuned. This bode well for the viewer, as well as the company. It creates a more “sticky” experience and drives users back. This, in turn, generates loyalty and residual traffic, and eventually, ad revenues.

I can’t wait for a ridiculous acquisition offer from a company with deep pockets, looking to break into the new-web space… Microsoft?….