The end of the web as we know it - and what it means to us
- Wed, July 14 2010
- Filed under: Social networking and web 2.0
The technology thinker Steve Rubel today proclaimed the end of the web as we know it.
He identifies these trends, and I quote from this article:
1) The canvas. The iPad has been deemed by some a blank slate. When you use any mobile device, you’re really only able to do one thing at a time. This means that we become entirely engrossed in whatever we have on the screen. Companies will need to up the ante if they hope to keep users in their fold longer. Development costs will go up, and the economics of content and experiences will look more like Hollywood—where a few hits deliver enough profit to pay for the dogs—than Madison Avenue.
2) Content snacking. How often do you consume media meals—e.g. engage with a unit of media like a newspaper, magazine or film from start to finish in one sitting? My guess is that you do this less than you did 10 years ago. Content snacking rules today. Popular digital metrics, such as time spent, may soon be useless.
3) Infinite choice. It never ceases to amaze me what a single mobile device can hold. Every time I turn on my phone, my finger needs to decide what’s more important to me at that time—friends, work, entertainment, etc. Choice will scale, human attention is finite, and mobile devices put all of this in our pockets. Time is your competition.
He says to succeed, we must: appropriate the best tools rather than inventing them; create partnerships to cut through the noise; and focus on digestible sized content.
I agree with most of this, and here’s how I’d translate it for our sector and nonprofit marketing thinkers:
1.) Do not build anything yourself. Co-opt useful tools (like those from my employer, the nonprofit Network for Good), point to great content, join existing conversations on vibrant communities rather than building your own. Don’t try to create shiny tools that lure donors; go to where donors are online, using the tools everyone else already built.
2.) Stop thinking like the lone wolf. How can you join a movement with momentum? What partners can strengthen your case? In our sector, none of us have the resources to go it alone in the noisy online space. Getting and keeping attention has to mean corralling resources beyond our own.
3.) Get concise, pithy and to the point online. DO NOT put your offline content online - it won’t work. Read my advice on snackers here.
The bottom line? Your online strategy has to evolve all the time, because how we interact with technology changes constantly. Adapt or fail.
Comments
Great post! I couldn’t agree MORE. I’ve had more success when partnering with someone more experienced to build something. “Co-opting” to build useful tools always works best.
Also, it really is all about quality content and making sure that it can be easily shared! Thanks.
There is lots of truth in this article. Most important I think is not to try to reinvent the wheel. Take what’s already out there what has been proven and tested, make use of the best tools and strategies… Don’t waste your time trying to do everything by yourself.
Thanks a lot for this great article.
As someone with serious “lone wolf” tendencies I found this piece useful - particularly the need to get “pithy” and to the point in the way we accomodate “snackers” in our online activities.
I find myself deeply resistant to the whole idea of “snacking” - which tells me that I really do need to take this seriously and apply it in my own acitivity.
So many thanks for an informative and stimulating post.
There are some really good points in this article,points that i agree strongly with,well done for getting it out there!
My background is in science; I have learned to examine everything in fine detail. Therefore it is difficult to get used to the idea of skimming or snacking.
The problem there isn’t enough time in the day to take full-course meals of all the information available at our fingertips.
I, too, need to be an old dog who can now learn new tricks. It really does take talent to snack instead of gorge.
Thanks for the very timely words of wisdom.
It’s time to start snacking now.
Peggy
#3 happens to me a lot. Every time I turn on my mobile phone, I don’t know what I would to first, to talk with my friends, to look over the internet, to play or whatsoever. Time really is your major competitor. Great post, thanks
I totally agree with what you said about not moving your offline content online. People just have a different mindset online. Getting your content out there is seldom an issue but keeping people’s attention is another story.
Yep, this is all true, the online world has changed, it now mobile) and its now mobile with the iPhone and Andriods and of course iPad out there, They are now a prefect medium for us to target our audiences. while on the device using our app or on our page they will be 100% focused on our message, but for how long (time is a competitor). Also 5 billion people have mobile phones where as 1.5 billion are online at home, so a bigger audience as well being mobile. We need to adapt and use tools to make the most of this trend and new mediu and combine the mobile with raditional websites and email, / text markign together, I’d say create squeeze pages on the mobile platform to capture email addresses then take the new subscribers to your site traditional site with your email marketing…
Super post there! Comprehensive and well collated material. Thanks for sharing.
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