The New Internet And Why You Should Be On It
Everyone seems to have figured out that the web is a great place to do business. There’s hardly a business in America that doesn’t have some kind of web presence. Even the little girl selling lemon-aide on the corner talks of “increasing her presence” on the web.
But, is that it? Is the Internet just a business model? I guess you could point out that it is also a seemingly bottomless reference source. Everything anybody wanted to know about anything (but was afraid to ask) is on the Internet somewhere. If you have access to new or unique information on anything, please post it…the world is waiting.
So? Is that it? No room for the everyman to participate other than as a buyer of goods and services? Take heart, because there is change in the air. A new Internet paradigm is forming, something people are calling Web 2.0. There is a lot of discussion about new business models, new ways to advertise, new application platforms, etc., but the most important part is often overlooked. Web 2.0 almost unwittingly describes a new social phenomenon in which an older, wiser Internet community begins to change the nature of the web to conform to the needs of a distributed community.
We used to talk about how increasing use of technology would gradually alienate people from each other. We would spend more and more time online and less time actually interacting with other people. Instead, what we are seeing is increased use of technology increases the amount of interaction with other people. IM, VOIP, chat rooms, blogs, forums, and the list goes on. All new, interactive forms of communication made possible by the Internet that are creating communication pathways only dreamed of before. It’s common these days for teens and young adults to have conversations on a regular basis with people from all over the world.
Too many discussions about the future of the Internet focus on the technology and miss the subtler, but equally important point that the real revolution we are seeing is not in the software or hardware but in what many have called the “wetware”; the people. The web is becoming more about the people that use it and what they use it for than about the technology that drives it.
So, why should an average person with nothing to sell and no particular drum to beat be on the Internet? Because that’s where the rest of society will be. Personal websites will be more commonplace than telephones; they’re incredibly inexpensive and easy to build, and most people will have more than one. They will have family sites to share pictures and stories with family and friends, personal blogs to maintain a dialogue with friends and strangers alike on the events of their community and the events of the world. Garage sales, wedding announcements, graduations, births, parties, resumes, recipes, pictures, videos, etc. all on your website(s).
The world is flattening and the nuclear family quickly becoming a memory. As more countries come together in common cause and open their markets up to each other, families spread out around the globe and lose touch. The Internet is opening up avenues of instant communication that allow people everywhere to see, hear, and share with each other any time they want. The personal website is the front porch in a new online society where you welcome up friends and neighbors for a sit and a chat in the evenings. It’s the fence you lean on in the afternoon to talk gossip and share recipes. It’s the living room you hold your Cub Scout meetings in as well as where you post the latest pinewood derby results. It’s even a refrigerator door where you post A+ papers next to crayon masterpieces for all the family to see.
Build a site and join an online community of millions around the globe.
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