Change we can believe in?
We’re one week into Barack Obama’s presidency and I’m realizing that his taking over for Bush has an interesting, perhaps even fundamental, parallel with the beginnings of Web 2.0.
According to the Wikipedia entry on Web 2.0, Tim O’Reilly (who helped coin the phrase) was using the term in referring to:
“the historical context of web businesses ‘coming back’ after the 2001 collapse of the dot-com bubble, in addition to the distinguishing characteristics of the projects that survived the bust or thrived thereafter.”
It was a response to what people realized (too late) was a faulty business model. Sound familiar? Look at Bush’s most recent approval rating and you’ll have some idea of what I’m talking about.
Of course, Web 2.0 wasn’t the paradigm shift that Obama is to Bush. It was more of a readjustment. “This didn’t work, but parts of it did, so let’s dump this, tweak that, keep this stuff, move these things around, bring some new ideas in, get users more involved and, voila, the new Internet.” What I think has been similar, though, is the public’s reaction to these changes.
Web 2.0 has been tremendously popular with Internet users. Check Alexa’s Global Top Sites list and you’ll find YouTube, MySpace, Facebook and Blogger in the top 10, and I’m guessing sites such as Flickr, LinkedIn and Twitter are moving up quickly. And Obama’s approval rating is higher than any incoming president since Kennedy’s in 1961.
Interestingly enough, the term “Web 2.0″ first become notable in ‘04, the year of Obama’s coming out party at the Democratic National Convention, and it seems like the majority of people are still enamored with both. Now, though, comes their first true tests.
Obama’s finally in office and he’s inherited an unholy mess. Expectations are sky-high and the pressure is on for him to fix, well, everything.
Web 2.0 has been around for half a decade and, while still popular, many of the sites haven’t figured out how to become profitable. Now, EVERY business is trying to figure out that very thing, so it’s not only about profitability - it’s about survival.
For both Obama and Web 2.0, it’s all about the bottom line. Results.
We’re at a fascinating time in the United States. Is President Obama all that he’s been hyped up to be or is he just another politician, albeit a historically different one? Will Web 2.0 continue to change the Internet or will it crumble like much of the Web’s first iteration?
Whatever the case may be, I’m up for the ride, and that’s why I started this blog. I want to not only document this crucial time for Web 2.0 and see what happens, but also learn more about the various parts that make up the whole. And I’m guessing the president will get mentioned a few more times down the road, too.
Thanks for reading this and I hope you continue to do so.
