Evolve

I was looking for a definition of the modern Internet. Not really looking, mind you, as doing that usually leads to finding long winded speeches about how Al Gore may or may not have invented it. What I was doing was thinking about the web and how it is different now than it has been in the past. Lets take a look at some of the biggest changes and see what I came up with.


Privacy Is Dead

When AOL ruled the world and darkness hung over the land, web users felt remarkably isolated. Sure, there were chat rooms and forums and the like but communication was usually anonymous and was almost always completely disconnected from the identity of the communicators. These days, the web is starting to open up as more and more people feel comfortable allowing their private information to drift into the tubes.

In 1994, the idea of a ubiquitous social network like Facebook would have been laughable. No one would have believed that people would knowingly put so much information about themselves in a semi-public Forum. These days I’m surprised that Justin.tv doesn’t have its own syndicated cable channel.


It’s A Big World After All

Way back in the beginning, the Internet was pretty much the same thing for everyone — a giant, multi-channel IRC chat. These days, the web is a massive metropolis complete with beauty, back-alleys and all the pomp and circumstance of 19th century English literature. It is large enough now to be entirely different for everyone.

If you ask the writers of the Daily Kos and the editors over at Read/WriteWeb what the web is you’ll get two completely different responses; if you ask a Facebook user and a World of Warcraft addict what it is, same thing. While the rest of the world is getting smaller, the Internet is actually getting bigger by the day.


We Have An Economy

Most of the growth in advertising is coming from online sectors, a huge amount of venture capital is flooding into web properties, online services and the traffic that they drive has intrinsic value. No one could have even dreamed of any of these things being true 15 years ago. At best, we would have assumed that big companies might move their storefronts online, but to think that entire businesses would spring up from the web would have been ludicrous.

The Internet is growing up and the idea of universal connectivity is giving rise to real economies. Not only have industries sprung up around the web, but much more importantly cottage industries have appeared as well. Who would believe that there are entire businesses around selling MySpace themes?


We have Drama

Shows like the IT Room tell me that enough people care about what is happening online, and enough drama is spun from our little webs that it is finally becoming relevant in the way that other sub-cultures are. The Internet isn’t just for computer people anymore. While I doubt the IT room is going to be a breakout success, it is a sign that the idea of web culture is spreading out beyond core users.


Web 2.0 Roundup

All of these points and a dozen others besides are why I love having the opportunity to explore how the web is infecting our society. My questions to you are what do you think this post will look like 5 years from now? What new paradigms can we expect to see in the coming years? How do you think all of these things will affect society at large?

Somethings to think about.

  • del.icio.us
  • Digg
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • Fark
  • Mixx
  • Propeller
  • TwitThis