#4 - Will Your Web 2.0 Website Go All Wrong?
This article explores some of the challenges involved in converting a Web 1.0 website in to a Web 2.0 community.
In the previous article in this article series we talked about some common ways to turn a simple Web 1.0 website in to a modern Web 2.0 community.
Before we rush to make that change, let's pause for a moment, and take some time to think through the challenges involved.
Inconvenient Questions
Before diving in to building a community on our site, we might use these inconvenient questions to reflect upon our own relationship with Web 2.0 communities.
First, would we subscribe to a magazine that printed any article anybody submitted?
Second, assuming we own a website, how much time do we spend on webmaster forums?
The Cocktail Party Model
On most Internet forums, pretty much anybody and everybody is welcome to join and post, assuming they stay generally on topic, play nicely with others, and don't spam.
That is, most forums print pretty much any content anybody submits.
For the sake of this discussion, we might refer to this as the "Cocktail Party Model" of Web 2.0.
Strengths
The benefits of the Cocktail Party Model are that it is:
1) welcoming...
2) fair and democratic...
3) gives posters a lot of freedom...
4) common and familiar, and...
5) these features are popular with members.
Weaknesses
The weaknesses of the Cocktail Party Model are:
1) anybody can type anything, thus...
2) many or most posts will lack any real substance
3) it's an inviting environment for those who have nothing much to say, and don't really know how to say it, but want to do so in public anyway.
4) the signal to noise ratio is diluted, and the good content gets ever harder to find amidst mountains of chatter.
Do You Visit Webmaster Forums?
To understand the weaknesses of the Cocktail Party Model of Web 2.0 we might return to the question of how much time we spend on webmaster forums.
We're both webmasters, and our sites are probably a pretty important part of our lives. Right?
The Net now contains many forums focused on webmastering, and in theory these communities could be invaluble resources for us as Net publishers. Right?
So, how much time do you spend on webmaster forums?
I can only answer for myself, and that answer is...
Not much.
A Web 2.0 Failure?
I used to visit webmaster forums. I used to love them, and spent considerable time on my favorite webmaster boards almost daily.
One of my favorite forums is run by a long time friend who is very skilled at web business, and very helpful to his forum members.
He's still very skilled, more than ever.
And even after all his success, and all the years that have passed, he still routinely offers solid advice to those who visit his forum.
But I'm not one of his visitors anymore.
Here's why.
What Went Wrong?
Over the years the high quality posters have been crowded out by the low quality posters.
Once the ball starts rolling in this direction, the trend accelerates. As quality posters find fewer and fewer other quality posters to dialog with, the quality posters leave in ever greater numbers.
The end result can be a forum full of inexperienced and inarticulate people giving each other poor advice.
The end result can be, you wind up hosting a cocktail party you don't actually want to attend.
This syndrome seems to have swept most, if not all, webmaster forums.
It's not my friend's sincere efforts to be helpful that are to blame, but the now out of date Web 2.0 Cocktail Party Model that he built his forum on.
Follow The Crowd, Or Be A Leader?
If you're thinking of taking your site Web 2.0 by building a community, here's a question that will hopefully be helpful.
Whatever your niche, there are probably already well established forums available on your topic. They are probably using the Cocktail Party Model we've discussed above.
The inconvenient question is....
Why should anyone come to your new forum when the older forums in your niche are already providing the service, and can offer visitors a larger community than you can?
Happily, there is a good answer to this question.
Are you ready for Web 2.5?
Web 2.5?? What the heck is that?
In the next article in this series, I'll try to explain.
