I believe that WEB 2.0 is the answer to our desire to participate and stop being mere receivers. This term has summarized the evolution of the Internet, in which we surfed through pages in that virtual reality that surprised us, to the real world that is today’s network, where we have moved from being mute observers to being stellar protagonists.
In fact, today we are living a sort of second version of the Internet, massively participative and open to everyone, including those of us who lack technical knowledge in programming. However, I think it would be short-sighted to think that this is only a network event, since it is a social phenomenon of global proportions such as we have never experienced before in the history of mankind. Its effect, of course, is still unknown, as is the scope and impact it will have on our lives.
For this reason, Web 2.0 is nothing more than a term that summarizes an enormous revolution at the speed of light, which makes us pause for a moment to think about its implications. There is no activity that can escape this brutal download of stimuli and opportunities. Whether your thing is banking, fighting an epidemic, conserving a park, leading a church, a sports club, a business of any kind, whether your thing is simply studying or being a high school student, no matter what you do, it is impossible to ignore the dimension of this transformation.
People, all of us, want to participate. The trend setters and viral promoters of all this accelerated evolution, you find them precisely on YouTube, MySpace, FaceBook, blogs, Hi5, everywhere on the net. Singled out by many as a bunch of narcissists and loners, weirdos and stars, they set the tone and reveal loudly people’s desire to be protagonists, to participate and be members of the club, in stronger emotional connections than we have ever dreamed of before.
It is no longer possible, therefore, to think of advertising alone. The concept has become old and reflects a bygone era, roads already traveled and a formula that people no longer want. We are not going to agree on a new name to replace it, although we could add that today it refers to connecting, attracting and falling in love. It is obvious that today’s extraordinary marketing will only be successful if the products are extraordinary, within the unifying framework of an extraordinary design. Nothing that is average will succeed in this world that no longer leaves room for secrets, where almost everything is commoditized and little is different.
The challenge is sensationally exciting. Today we have to move from message to participation, from promise to commitment, from transaction to relationship, from delivery to contact, from repetition to innovation, from rating to viral dissemination. Whoever is not on the edge of their seat with an itch all over their body because of what is happening, may already be obsolete and without any possibility of catching up.
Web 2.0 is just a reflection of the gigantic transformation that is taking place, and for this reason, it is better that we move from knowing it to understanding it, from observing it to living it. See you in the chat? Leave me your video on your Hi5? Come to the MySpace party? Have you seen yourself on CRTonight? Did you see what this guy wrote in his blog? Did you download the TEDtalk podCast? Watch this video on YouTube!….