YouTube videos and the blogosphere. And it’s those 500 million people who have the strongest impact on the future of the planet. The new infrastructure that has led to such significant change is commonly called “the Web 2.0,” which is driven by the paradigm of user-generated content and the Social Web. For the first time in human history, over one billion people have access to a level playing-field, on which they can influence, connect with, and publish and distribute work to other people. The Web 2.0 has transformed human civilization at its core by creating a network that has the potential to connect every single mind of humankind.
Given this extremely significant achievement, I have to reassess my first sentence: the impact of the Internet, compared to its fundamentally important position, is actually marginal. For most people, neither Facebook nor twitter nor blogs are more than a little entertainment on the side. In the grand scheme of things, the Web 2.0 is of marginal importance—compared to their healthcare, finances, families, jobs, or even their cars. The reason is simple: Facebook cannot heal cancer, reading a blog doesn’t make you rich, and Twitter doesn’t solve your family problems. Of course they don’t.
But then, what can? Who, actually, CAN solve all the problems that haunt our planet, and help you tackle the challenges of your daily life? The answer is simple, and hasn’t changed since the rise of homo sapiens: yourself, and others. In other words: US. Yes, we can solve every problem, and overcome every challenge, if we only know how, know who and know why.
Until now, this was easily said , but rarely done: Getting the knowledge and manpower to solve a problem was restricted by your network, resources and political or business skills. You could connect to a few friends or family members, or seek out one or two experts. Even a head of state could only tap into the minds of a few hundred experts and staff, maybe even a thousand if he was lucky. Removing this restriction would have an impact on our world and lives that can hardly be imagined. It would be game changer – not a game changer for a business or industry, but for human existence itself.
Has the current Web 2.0 led to this change? Not in any significant way. You can meet people, but you cannot access their minds - at least not the part that matters. You can read their tweets and status updates and 30-second videos. But you cannot read their specific, unique mental models; their insights on the world.; the bits of imagination that will shape the future; their brilliant concepts that could solve your problem; their pieces of art that will give you the inspiration you seek. The Web 2.0 fails at large at providing valuable content.
The Web 2.0 has created an infrastructure in that publishing and information now grows at a breathtaking speed, and the information being published grows on an exponential trajectory. This book is about the vision and blueprint of turning this unprecedented capacity into an infrastructure that produces valuable content.
I have a simple belief. I believe that we, as a civilization, as of January 2010, hold the key in our hands to solve any problem, big or small, for countries, businesses and individuals alike, at lightning speed. Because, for the first time in human history, hundreds of millions of people are connected, who, together, can do nearly everything. Our mission is to figure out how we can activate this potential and embed it into an infrastructure – one in which everyone’s mental potential is leveraged for everyone else. It is a task that goes well beyond software development and deep into the logics of human motivation, economic value and social progress. It will be about a content revolution, a profit dilemma, transformative capitalism, user-generated media business and… - but wait. Let’s do this step-by-step. Enjoy a journey into the past, present and future of the web here on my blog. And don’t forget to join the discussion at my Web 3.0 group!
Cheers,
Johannes
This article is part of Web 3.0 – the book by Johannes Bhakdi, available on sophotec.com