Wall Street Journal on Social Bookmarking
"Though these sites are undeniably popular, there's ongoing debate about whether the model of filtering content through voting ultimately will pose a challenge to traditional media. Some say the voting-site approach can more quickly distill what's important for busy readers."
"But critics say it's simply an aggregate of borrowed content and links to a relatively small pool of blogs. And while they sometimes drive traffic to Web sites that are spotlighted, the spike can be temporary. "Influence implies that I can change your mind and they're not necessarily doing that," says Duncan Watts, a professor of sociology at Columbia University."
But the question remains, is even temporary influence in the Internet world a real event? Is the definition of influence shifting in Web 2.0? What does this mean for healthcare? As I have said before, social networking and tagging in health care is at the early stages and may sort out in the next 6-12 months.
Also, check out this comment by if:book
“But the question remains.”
In my mind there is no question. The events on the net are just a pre-courser to a greater involvement by main stream society. I see the big boys scrambling to get in line with their economic engines in overdrive. Interesting and not unimportant that the fundamental (web based) changes are not economically driven but cultural in essence and manifesting out of a new generational need, immediacy. Process over content! The money appears to be chasing the apps, regardless of the bubble bust that happened a while back.
The work that is being done in semantic web development, lots going on under the radar that is not out there, is clearly going to create huge changes of both business models and consumer attitudes, although I see that as being more long term!
Alan
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Main stream journalism is clearly one of the first major industries to buckle, if only in selected markets right now. This blog gives a very good overview:
http://www.pjnet.org/
On another front, England is moving into a radical approach regarding ID development. The promise appears to be a national tying together of all sectors, National Health, Banking, Social Services and the list appears to be endless.
The government is pushing an Orwellian-like systems; traffic cameras, mailed tickets, recycling controls, vehicle tracking . . . . . and general publics have been caught sleep-walking!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/02/18/nid18.xml
My point is that it’s going to be adopted here as time roles forward. As these systems are pushed into place the machinery of individual identification, classification and related technologies to implement such are going to follow by necessity! The constitution “might” save us to some degree; but Magna Carta Libertatum will not do the trick for my fellow Brits!
There is so much money being thrown at this sector, governmental and private, it can only be a matter of time until it trickles to a wider group of industries. Tagging might be in its infancy but it won’t be long before we will be wishing for the innocence of childhood rather than the challenges of an adolescent tagging industry that favors product over privacy!
Cheers. Alan.
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