MappingTheWeb //

Word around the blogosphere is that Twitter is close to closing a round of financing. Michael Arrington estimates the round to be somewhere in the $1-5 million range. That seems a bit low given the amount of buzz and attention the company has been getting over the past 6 months. I would have expected a larger round, but this smaller round does make sense when you think about it.

The smaller the round, the less diluted the company becomes. The founders can retain majority ownership and control. Furthermore, I am guessing that only a small amount of capital is needed to take the company to the next level. After all, Twitter is a micro-blogging service. How much does it really cost to run a company that facilitates the dissemination of short text messages?

I think that a small round is a very smart move by the company. I assume that many were expecting a gargantuan round, only to be disappointed. By minimizing the influx of funds, Twitter can spur growth and still maintain company unity. The next round of financing will probably be a different story with a whole new set of challenges.

In two weeks, bloggers and social media enthusiasts from around the world will convene in Seattle at Gnomedex 2007. This annual conference is becoming more and more popular, as more people are discovering its widespread appeal and social atmosphere. Conference mastermind, Chris Pirillo, describes the 2007 event as follows:

“This summer, hundreds of the world’s leading bloggers, podcasters, and tech-savvy enthusiasts will once again descend upon the city of Seattle, Washington (August 9th – 11th, 2007). The seventh Gnomedex conference is generating buzz in the blogosphere, which underscores our reason to produce it. Indeed, we will once again become the crossroads between producers and observers, between users and developers.”

I was fortunate enough to attend the conference last year and had a blast. Access to such influential individuals, entrepreneurs, tech executives, A-list bloggers, and industry experts is second-to-none. Furthermore, the education and insights gained from such an event cannot be matched.

I highly recommend Gnomedex to anyone looking to make a splash on the tech scene or simply gain some added knowledge from industry veterans. As I understand, there are very few seats remaining, so register soon. I hope to see some of you there.

By the way, if you are already registered, please let me know by writing a comment below and I will be sure to connect with you

Web 2.0 is an echo-chamber - let’s face it. Many deny the fact, but it’s true. Ask anyone on the street about RSS, widgets, APIs, or wikis and you’ll get a blank face. Chances are they’ll think you’re speaking another language. Even fairly tech savvy Internet users frown upon such terms and phrases. As much as we’d like to think web 2.0 is mainstream, it isn’t.

Those who live in this echo-chamber glorify the trends and technologies, as their value and potential is recognizable. This bleeding-edge Internet group wants the world to learn about these technologies, but the fact of the matter is that they are very daunting and intimidating to the average user. In other words, web 2.0 needs to be humanized before it can ever be adopted by the mainstream.

Who is leading the pack when it comes to humanizing web 2.0? Facebook. Here is proof: ask any Facebook user if they know what RSS is or if they’ve ever used it? Chances are they have no idea what it is and they’ll admit to never using it. Little do they know, the Facebook ‘News Feed’ is essentially a rebranded RSS reader. Instead of pulling blog posts and news articles, the reader aggregates updates from your friends’ profiles.

This brings me to the most important point of all: Facebook is educating the masses about web 2.0 without them even knowing. In other words, Facebook IS bringing web 2.0 mainstream.

How is Facebook accomplishing such an improbable feat? By rebranding the terms and phrases that seem so daunting and sophisticated. This facilitates the education process and reduces the learning curve, making it easier for regular folk to adopt these technologies.

The term “social network” is synonymous with web 2.0. Though the nature of the term may be rather self-explanatory, people understand it. Sites such as MySpace, hi5, and Friendster have helped to provide clarity around its meaning. This education process is exactly what is happening at Facebook as we speak.

Let’s explore some of the web 2.0 technologies that Facebook has rebranded as internal features:

Wikis - By definition, a wiki is a collaborative space that can be edited by anyone with access to the site. This notion of participation and cooperation creates a more productive, usable information portal for all affiliated members.

Facebook has rebranded this concept as ‘Groups’. Within a given group, you are able to start a conversation (with a message), add photos, and provide simple commentary. Furthermore, administrators and officers have added control and functionality.

Blogs - When a user writes a ‘Note’ on Facebook, they are expressing their thoughts or opinions in a given manner. A collection of these notes, in reverse chronological order, can be classified as a ‘weblog’ or blog.

The offline concept of a diary has been around for centuries. It doesn’t take a huge leap of faith to consider a jump into the online world.

User-Generated Content (UGC) - Once again, the term may seem rather self-explanatory, but it does need some clarification. UGC is content created by the user - it is not production quality. Examples include photos, videos, and audio clips.

Not only does Facebook upload an astonishing amount of photos each day, but they also provide a simple, yet powerful video experience. Simply put, users are constantly interacting with user-generated content. They just don’t know it.  

API - An API is an Application Programming Interface. In other words, it is a way to let others integrate with your service by tapping into your data. This is what Facebook has done with their new ‘F8 Platform’. They’re allowing others the ability to tap into Facebook’s database and create applications which can then be added to the system and adopted by users.

Micro-blogging - This new phenomenon is essentially a mini-form of blogging. Recently made popular by companies such as Twitter and Tumblr, micro-blogging is a way to provide a short message (usually less than 200 characters) about your life, mood, or current state via the web, e-mail, text, or IM. To meet demand in this area, Facebook launched ‘Status Updates’, which is simply another way of labelling micro-blogging.

Widgets - Though the comparison may be a bit rough, it is still worth acknowledging. A widget is an embedded device that provides some level of value to the publisher. This is somewhat akin to what Facebook has done with their ‘F8 Platform’, and more notably ‘Applications’. Once a user adds a given ‘Application’, it appears on their profile page, where other users can see it and interact with it (or even add it themselves).

RSS - The concept of the ‘News Feed’ acting as an RSS reader was outlined above. Having said that, Facebook has started to integrate actual RSS protocol within the site as well. Anyone now has the ability to subscribe (via RSS) to another user’s ‘Notes’, in many cases. I’m sure RSS is being used in other places within the site, but I have just failed to notice them. In any case, I expect the adoption of RSS within the Facebook community to be slow, but steady.

On top of all these obvious examples, Facebook also makes extensive use of AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) throughout the site. This creates a more intuitive, enjoyable user experience.

I could probably go on and on and outline further examples, but I think we can all get a grasp of the situation that is unfolding. What can we learn from all this? Facebook is a rebranding machine. The ability to provide such advanced technologies in a simple manner is truly remarkable. The day that excites me the most is the day that people realize that they understand what all these web 2.0 technologies are. That will be the day that web 2.0 goes mainstream - and I have a funny feeling that that day is coming sooner than we imagine.

After taking a look at widget marketing, widget fever, and the monetization of widgets, I have come to one conclusion: widgets are NOT a business model. They are a marketing tool. There needs to be an underlying product or service behind all of this embedding. This made me wonder, “What are widgets comparable to in the offline world? What’s a good metaphor for the world of widgets?” Then it hit me - flyers.

Flyer Analysis

Flyers are created by a given store, then distributed to potential customers. The flyers themselves are worthless. They are a tool to entice customers into the store. Only at that point can revenues be generated.

Flyers can easily be moved from one location to another. They can also be easily disposed of. Furthermore, their very presence can catalyze word-of-mouth marketing and provide much needed brand exposure.

Widget Analysis

The widget world works much in the same way as flyers. A given widget is fabricated by a company with the intention of widespread distribution on the Internet. This embedded marvel provides value to the destination site, but can easily be removed if the publisher so desires. The widget itself is relatively useless to the company when it comes to revenue generation. Widgets are meant to drive traffic back to the parent property, which can then monetize the user via advertising or a subscription model, perhaps. Finally, as is the case with flyers, widgets can also create general brand exposure and awareness.

Obviously this isn’t the perfect metaphor - the biggest difference being that flyers cost money to print and distribute, while widgets cost nothing other than the cost of human labour. Having said that, I still think the metaphor helps to provide clarity when thinking about the purpose of widgets. It is also a great way to explain widgets to a non-techie or Internet user with little knowledge of web 2.0 world.

The way I see it, the blogosphere is moving in two separate directions. One group of individuals who blog for personal reasons is moving toward micro-blogging. The other group, focused on news articles and editorials, is moving toward a more traditional media model. The reason behind this digression is actually quite straightforward when you consider the goals of each type of blogger.

Personal bloggers want to keep friends, family, and colleagues updated on their happenings. They don’t tend to have a lot of time to spend writing and editing posts. Historically, this group posts irregularly at best and updates tend to go on and on. For this reason, shorter, more frequent posts are perfect. Not only do they take less planning and time to fabricate, but they also don’t bore the reader.

All the aforementioned disadvantages of blogging lead us to a new trend - micro-blogging. This phenomenon has really taken off as of late. Start-ups such as Twiiter (most notably), but also Pownce, Jaiku, Hictu, Moodmill, and Tumblr have paved the way for this new form of blogging. This doesn’t mean that micro-bloggers are restricted to text. Personal media, such photos and videos, can still be shared using these platforms, as it is very important to this target group.

From the other side, bloggers who focus on news articles, editorials, and more professional content publishing are moving toward a more traditional media strategy. What this means is that we will see more and more blogs morph into so-called portals. This will provide added functionality, above and beyond that provided by the platforms. Other signs of the transformation include personalized designs and custom layouts, scheduled posting, ad models, user profiles, and, of course, well-written content.

Obviously not all bloggers fit into one of these two categories, but I would wager that a large majority do. It will be interesting to observe the evolution of micro-blogging as it progresses from infancy. Will it just be a trend or fad? I don’t think so. I think the future looks very bright for these short messages. As for the citizen journalists and publishers, I also think there is a huge opportunity for this group as well. More and more, we are seeing these individuals make a living off blogging. I am not going to predict the extinction of newspapers and magazines just yet, but blogs will definitely play a key role in the development of media in the years to come.