- What Is Web 2.0?
- The Limitations of Web 2.0
- What Is Web 3.0 Marketing?
The Limitations of Web 2.0
For many people, Web 2.0 is the king of the mountain. On the contrary, I want to rip it apart, tear it to shreds, and show you all the loopholes, which, in turn, become fresh opportunities.
There are five essential limiting factors of Web 2.0:
- Oversaturation
- Misconceptions
- Time
- Modes of Interaction
- Openness
Oversaturation
Let's start with the limiting factor that should command the most attention: oversaturation. The problem is that everyone and their third cousin are on the Web 2.0 bandwagon.
As a society, we have become so obsessed with Web 2.0 that it has become oversaturated! All of this saturation causes an exorbitant amount of unnecessary noise.
Key Concept:
The key limitation to Web 2.0 is that it has become oversaturated.
Here are some examples:
- Your grandma calls you and says she's been told she needs a blog so that her friends can stay updated on her travels.
- Eight-year-olds are posting videos on YouTube.
- Photos of your kid's birthday are shared with the world on Flickr.
You might argue that, as a result, these sites are receiving a lot of good traffic because everyone is logging on. You are correct. However, how targeted is the traffic going to be? This is a key concept you will hear throughout the book. Targeted traffic is the advantage that strategic marketers are seeking.
When it comes down to it, the key is drilling down to find the best interaction. Facebook is an excellent place to network, meet new people, and do business. But Facebook is a powerful marketing tool only when you know how to use it to reach out to specific people or groups of people.
Misconceptions
Common misconceptions about Web 2.0 have also caused difficulties. How many times have you heard that MySpace is just for teens and porn? The statement is nowhere near correct; however, there are millions of people who firmly hold that statement to be true. Those are the people who are very tough to reach using Web 2.0 marketing methods.
The media portray Web 2.0 in one way. The fact of the matter is that some people can ruin it for all of us. You get some crazy 14-year-old from China creating a virus, and suddenly everyone thinks that their computers are infected and that they can't open any attachments or even browse the Web.
Time
Time is also a limiting factor. As we become more and more connected, we get more and more distracted by all the noise, like comments being made on our blogs, questions about our photos on Flickr, or updates on Wikipedia. One trend that never seems to change is that people continue to get busier and have less time for interaction.
Both consumers and businesses continue to demand more information, and they want it faster, making it very challenging to keep up. Once they think they have found their preferred method of communication (e-mail), an even better method comes out that is even faster (to be talked about shortly).
Modes of Interaction
I understand that this way of thinking may be contradictory to what you might be thinking: Isn't the goal of Web 2.0 to create new modes of interaction? I define modes of interaction as the different places and devices that people use to gather, search, network, and exchange information. People are gathering in different places around the Web and interacting in different ways with each other. But these modes of interaction have decreased the human touch. Do you even pick up a phone on a daily basis? If you need something, you pop off an e-mail. If you have a question, you search Wikipedia.
Once you start getting bogged down with e-mails, Facebook messages, and instant messages, you start to look for a solution to simplify things, and a bad taste forms in your mouth. Then you reach the tipping point, making you jump ship and focus on something else. In other words, there is just too much out there, thus causing confusion and a lack of adoption.
Openness
Lastly, the openness of Web 2.0 has become a striking limitation. Most humans are naturally private. When you have a Facebook account, a MySpace account, and a Flickr page, your privacy drops quickly. If you are an avid user of Facebook or read the news, you will remember when Facebook changed their policy to state that they own your content even after you've canceled your account. They did change that policy back, but it's still quite vague in their favor. We enjoy sharing details about ourselves, but there comes a point where it just gets weird or creepy. Take, for example, Google Ads on Gmail. You actually will see ads based on the text phrases you're typing in your e-mail. So if you happen to write "personal development," you will see targeted ads with that phrase!