Has social software been supplanted by
Web 2.0? I'm not the only one
wondering about the distinction between the
two — danah boyd and
Ross Mayfield are grappling with the same
existential questions over at the old bastion of social software,
Many-to-Many. Technorati lists 4,915 posts tagged
Web 2.0 versus 2,081 for
social software — still sizeable for the latter,
but enthusiasm seems definitely to have shifted from that term. I also find it more and more of a false distinction to
have to separate this slew of new web-based apps into "social" and "not social" — the line is very porous.
Remember the Milk, e.g. — is it "social" or is it personal GTD? Is it both?
Do I cover it here? I find myself asking this question more and more often.
Maybe I should stop taking the question so literally and cover what interests me and what I hope may interest you.
Should I veer too far from the path of what you may consider "social" software, please feel free to let me know.
Otherwise, from here on out, it looks like the
continuum between personal and social will
continue to bulk up in the middle. The web at large is seethingly social. Let's go further down the rabbit hole, shall
we?
Does social software still mean anything? No, really.
Reader Comments
(Page 1)2. I agree with Zaskoda on his assertion that Social Software is a defined set of tools. I would also argue that there is something broader out there - social networking media. I did a conference on it last spring geared towards major non profits - www.nvhainnovations.org
Web 2.0 is the new platform on which deeper and richer Social software application will be built. Web 2.0 is also a state of mind, in my opinion. It is the realization that the general public is using a fraction of the web's capacity. It is a realization that ye employees can work from home, that you will have a digital self that may or may not represent you well, and that at key points the real world and the digital world collide, and also fail to overlap.
3. To echo the sentiments above, social software and Web 2.0 are different.
Web 2.0, despite the claims (I think it was Ross Mayfield?) is not necessarily "made of people". Social software is. IMO, of course :)
Posted at 8:05PM on Dec 18th 2005 by Phil Wilson
1. The term "social software" has a distinct connotation. Social software is not limited to the web and has existed (the software, not the term) since before the Internet. Consider, for example, electronic mail networks of the BBS era. Social software also includes applications such as IM clients and multiplayer games.
The term "Web 2.0" is a buzzword that tries to bond a collection of ideals for how to build a better web. It's also highly associated with the recent upsurge in the tech industry. As such, I suspect that the term "Web 2.0" has a limited shelf life.
Remember, the Web is not the Internet. These are two distinctly different technologies (see wikipedia). I do believe, and this is a real stretch, but I do believe that the Web will go away when a new and improved Internet technology comes along.
Buzz is good, it builds interest and helps fund development... but it's important for engineers to use well defined terminology over exciting buzz words whenever possible. ;)
Posted at 8:05PM on Dec 18th 2005 by Zaskoda