A Flawed Web 20

January 1st, 2005

As Web2.0 continues to evolve, it seems more and more sites are going towards a user created content model.

It works great from the webmaster point of view: Simply put up the infastructure and let your users create your content for you, and collect advertising revenue.

In fact there seems to be an influx of these type of sites. Fark, Delicious, and Digg are the 3 big ones that come to mind. Then there’s craigslist and google groups which are a whole different idea all together.

But there’s a flaw here. What’s in it for the user? Why should they submit content to you?

In the case of Craigslist and Delicious, it’s because the sites provide a valuable service without the obtrusive ads.

But what about the smaller sites? the Digg, the Shoutwires, the Farks of the internet? What motivates a user to contribute to them?

Theoretically, wouldn’t that user be better off posting his original content on his own site with his own ads?

As blogs become more omnipotent, and everybody and their mother gets one, I think web3.0 is going to take the selfish attitude of “what’s in it for me?”

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