If Web 2.0 were that easy, we would have done it already
Let's get straight into it, shall we? The internet is a powerful, impressionable and highly malleable corporate playground that will forever change shape to fit the culture of those who use it. The internet, althought young, is a shape-shifter. A prime example of such shape-shifting is highly prevalent in the existing Web 2.0 aesthetic. For the oblivious readers, Web 2.0 is essentially just a colloquial term to describe a movement from first generation internet to the second (obviously), but this little transformation entails a different emphasis on the way the web conducts itself. Web 2.0 emphasises usability, and usability means simple designs and heightened functionality. In summation, a lot of good has come out of it but there has also been a lot of garbage as well.
I'm sick of reading articles and blogs emphasising how easy it is to achieve absurd levels of success through web 2.0... If web 2.0 were that easy, we would have all made millions and would have done it already. It is in this simple, yet astute observation that we can siphon through the Web 2.0 dumping ground to uncover a couple of simple truths.
Firstly, from a technical point of view, Web 2.0 is a complete paradox of itself. How? Well, people want simple designs but with heightened functionality. Sounds easy, doesn't it? Not really... Programmers (not so much designers) and their innovative ability are being pushed to their limit in putting together the cogs that power such 'simple' designs. This is unquestionably great for the development of the internet, but yeah, it's a tiresome effort!
Secondly, 'making money' on the internet involves the sheep-like following of highly ambiguous 'success' formulas that seem to do nothing more than contribute to the mass of cyber-pollution that seems to be building a larger ball of garbage that is perpetually hurling faster and faster down the slopes of the Web 2.0 mountain. I'll tell you the truth about these formulas, as they all have a hidden, underlying message that many people seem to surpass in their absorption of regurgitated content. When someone on the internet says "Buy my book, it will teach you how to build a following on twitter" what they actually mean is "hey, I'm making money off of the folly of of uneductaed users buying their way into Web 2.0, you should too by publishing your own crappy e-book and baiting it to the flock." I guess you could say that the most notorious offenders in this category of Web 2.0 fall under 'social media', but they are the users abusing it incorrectly. Social Media is the best thing that happened to the internet, however like all existing media avenues, there are ways to abuse it to your own advantage. Companies and individuals are more than entitled to use social media to advertise, because they actually offer a service or product on the internet - hell, I'm even going to link back to one of my clients at the end of this post. The thing is, though, offering a genuine product or service isn't preying on your average Joe Blow of Web 2.0, who doesn't know their left foot from their right foot by saying that making money on the web is easy - cos it's not.
Making money involves hard work, and ingenuity. Not every person possesses the same level of innovation as others out there. I for one, am sick of seeing certain bloggers and designers, mass marketing the simplicity of innovation to hordes of readers entranced by the success of other people. Tell it like it is. Look at it this way, if you want to know how a car runs - Do you analyse the body or the engine? Bloggers need to be more informative about the gearing of Web 2.0, rather than coaxing people to buy into the deception of its 'simplicity'. Omitting the mechanics of your online success only makes the garbage ball bigger.
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