two webs or one?

Liz Strauss, commenting on a recent post of mine, muses about the separation of the information web from the relationship web, one data driven, one social.
You can see her post here:

blogherald.com/2007/05/29/are-you-ready-for-a-whole-new-blog

I’m currently in the midst of moving house and will be without access to thè web for a while, except via blackberry. So my comments are of necessity short.

I think the answer’s simple. We need to keep on ensuring that we build the web in a customer centric way, a la cluetrain. First relationships. Then conversation. Then transaction. Then the distinction between the two webs will disappear.

It is up to us. More later.

5 thoughts on “two webs or one?”

  2. I always make it a point to read commenters’ blogs wherever I have that information. Helps me discover new blogs and allows me a better perspective on the comment. Welcome to the conversation.

  3. JP, On a tangential note, do you have an RSS feed for comments? I feel like I am missing some conversation because I only see the posts in Google Reader. Sean Park’s blog has a feed for posts and another for comments. It makes tracking the conversations easier.

    -JD

  5. Interesting idea……I think in fact its more complex than that.

    There are different types of online social networks (ie different topologies and operating dynamics) and they do have different roles, just like offline.

    And being human, we have multiple complex interactions with multiple people – in fact we may use different networks to interact with the same person depending on context.

    I recall a fascinating piece of research I saw while working with BT, showing that the same person uses different types of transaction (mobile, landline, email) for different message types

    Likewise, I note that there are differences in various social networks depending on purpose – blogs, real time chatroom, asymmetric forums, asymmetric “write on my profile wall” systems, avatar drivem 3D worlds etc.

    So…a social web and an info web. Too simple, not nearly nuanced enough – we publisg Broadstuff (Our blog) on the web, on Facebook, and on Twitter – different types of consumption, different audiences

    (In fact on Facebook alone there are many finely nuanced types of interactions)

Let me know what you think

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