Web 2.0 Peaked in 2007

I’m going to say something controversial today. The goldrush of web 2.0 is over. 2007 was the year of Facebook, and of brands latching on to social media, desperate to get a slice of the action.

Now, everyone seems to have sobered up a bit. Facebook is seeing a decline in its users, while YouTube have announced the arrival of video ads.

Having worked in social media optimisation for the last year or so, I can see a change from ‘goldrush’ mentality - where clients let us get on with it, using our expertise of online spaces to devise the best strategy for their campaigns - to their asking more questions - how can you measure social media campaigns, how can you prove its impact, etc. etc. I.e. clients now want to see proof over and above the hype. They want to know what it is they’re actually getting, and, what we’re actually doing. This article has a few pointers on how to provide social media measurements.

Because of companies such as my last workplace, and the need for social media sites such as Facebook to actually make money (Social Ads…), brands now increasingly and aggressively enter the formerly ’secluded’ social spaces and are trying to get a piece of you and me. That in itself will make it less attractive - I for one try to get away from ads, and wherever ads go, I leave (ironic really, as my last and new job will be in the same business of getting ‘my’ brands out there, and into your face).

Mark my words: 2008 will see not the end of the web 2.0 hype, but it will continue to slow down and move towards integration from overhyped, overbuzzed ‘anything can go’ to becoming more part of other media. Social media will turn from the new into the old. Brands will continue to move in and commercialise those online spaces, making them less attractive places to hangout in.

The next big thing must be just around the corner!