Friday 26 January 2007

Conversations From The Edge

Kate had a post called Who Is Your Blog For? Not For Whom Do You Blog the other day referencing my earlier conversation on Web Standards. John made a great comment that I wanted to highlight because I think it speaks to a really important point. He said,

"Personally, I find that I read more and learn more from blogs than I ever did trying to force myself to read industry publications and such. Sites like MarketingProfs.com are full of good ideas and insightful content but I almost never read them. That's because I'd much rather hear the same idea from a real, flawed human being--even if it may not be as well expressed."

Edge conversations and content are only at the earliest stages of their importance. As the Web continues its process of decentralization, we are going to see more and more control go into the hands of the users. This fragmented dynamic will start what I think will be an entire new world of Web content and Web services.

What will be interesting is to see how this impacts the centre. If marketingprofs as John points out in his context, as a ‘portalized’ conversation (i.e. marketing hub, where 'experts' only can participate) are no longer holding their value, and that value continues to bleed to the edges, what will marketingprof become?

Will sites like this disappear or rather will they morph and change to provide a new value to their audience that is unique and different from the edge?

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes, the "edge" will eventually become many, many centres. I suspect that users will crave for a centre, once decentralization becomes the norm...it unfolds. The user will want some commonality (NOT to be "common", but to enjoy a similar discourse community.) Derrida, the decentralization guru in lit. crit. is along side other theorists now, gathering some dust on library shelves, not the leader of the pack...even in his post-structural, post-modern age. Question is how quickly this will all happen. The web hastens things, hopefully not so fast that something really cool is missed on the whip-fast conveyer belt information highway.

 
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