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Sep 27, 03:50 pm: It will be all about issues

I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking and talking about Web 2.0. And, in that, a lot of the time is has been focused on the positive. But it’s not all positive.

There are two things that nag at me. The first is that it’s a lot of work. Not as in Jeez, I’m sorry I haven’t posted to my blog/called you back/had dinner at home in a while. I’ve really had a lot of work to do but as in This is scaring me to death and I wake up in a sweat wondering if it’s the right thing. Because, really, it’s betting the farm.

Which is the second thing that nags at me: issues will become more important than organizations.

This new emergent way of organizing and, well, accomplishing is about engagement and platforms and a default position of trust. It’s about deciding what you can and can’t do and revealing those decisions in programatic and organizational choices, including technology. And that means that you are inviting people to connect around issues and not around an organization.

Look at the Katrina PeopleFinder Project. Did participants jump on because it was branded? Because some organization they trusted said “Hey, do this thing. This here.” or did they jump on because they were sitting in front of their TV watching devistation and abandonment and the project gave them a way to volunteer. It gave them a platform for meaningful needed action. Around an issue.

But is was a lot of work. Read what Ethan Zuckerman says about it.

Here’s a quote from this morning’s San Francisco Chronicle:


In several Texas communities, including Beaumont and nearby Port Arthur, officials trying to deter an influx of returnees blockaded roads into the towns and pleaded with motorists not to cme. But their roadblocks were besieged by irate residents who said they wanted to protect their property and help clean up.

People don’t want to sit and wait for the word from on high. They want a way to engage. They don’t want to know that their community is safe, is being cleaned up. They want to clean it up.

And that’s both the challenge and the opportunity that these emergent technologies, this bundle that’s called Web 2.0 offers. The challenge to open up a platform and let people engage in the ways that are meaningful to them, allowing them to carry activities and messages beyond the borders of your website into their community in the ways they feel is important. And it’s the opportunity. Imagine a nation of people wanting to engage and help. And image a nonprofit sector that is motivated and mission-driven to provide that for them.

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Marnie Webb  | 

Comments made

  1. marshallkirkpatrick

    Hi there, did you see the post I just made on my site about a group effort to explain web2.0 to non-geeks? You might be interested in participating. It’s somebody else’s idea, using a particular tag this wed-fri.
    Sep 27, 06:55 pm

  2. David Geilhufe

    Exactly. People want to engage and Web2.0 makes engagement faster, easier, and potentially more effective. The challenge is how old-school, staid, bureaucratic institutions can channel and focus this energy. Not control and point this energy, but channel and focus.
    Sep 28, 03:07 am

  3. marnie webb

    Marshall, this post? I did see it. I’m eager to see how it works and what gets compiled. I’d love to figure out if there’s a way to pull this together on a wiki so that the answers can be pulled together.

    David, First—glad you’re fine. Hope Rita didn’t hit you and yours too hard. I agree with the chalenge you identify. It’s not just a challenge online, it’s a challenge on land too.
    Sep 28, 04:29 am