It’s really weird to be on the forefront of technology sometimes. I’m not saying that I’m bleeding edge, but I would consider myself ahead of the majority of internet users. For example, it appears as though blogging has really taken off to the masses in 2004. I gave a speech about blogs & rss in early 2003 for an Intro to Computers class that I took with a friend (don’t ask). I had “blogged” for about a year before that. Before that, I would post occasional thoughts to my ad hock (I jumped platforms a few times) website that I started in ’96. Anyway, the point of this entry is that it seems that the internet is moving from the cool thing of everyone registering a domain so that they can have a website, too… to sort of weeding down to websites with content that gets updated somewhat regularly. It seems to me that communities are becoming more of a part of the online experience than just commerce. In a way, it’s going back to how I remember the internet before the bubble. Back in the days that I was a regular on IRC…
It always seems that once the masses start using something that has been cool to more tech savvy people, the techies move on… The techies create something else so that they can keep feeling elite in their own virtual world.
I really think that while forums have existed for a while, the idea of a web community is evolving. I think that in a way, various websites are forming as a combination of Orkut, blogging, forums, etc where people can “hang out” or be a part of a community of people interested in the same things. The Orkut reference fits in because if you hang around that community enough, you start to get to know the people on a more personal/psychological way than just reading an obscure post.
The communities thing is good and bad. I feel it’s good because it gives you an opportunity to go to one place to hear many voices. Some communities are very specific while others touch many topics. The downside to these websites is that it is hard for the little person to be heard again. Yeah, occasionally a community or two will link to an obscure website, but that only gives the owner their 15 minutes of fame. The exception is that if the owner of that linked website consistently produces interests for people…
Whew… How was that for a ramble?