Here is an interesting Newsweek article suggesting that the Internet is beginning to move back away from the Web-2.0 phenomenon of user-generated content. (Just when some of us are getting excited about adopting Web 2.0 features!) The article explores the idea that Web users may now be more interested in seeking out expert opinions and reliable knowledge online. What do you think — what is the place of user-generated content versus expert knowledge on the Web?
Well then that begs the question…what makes one an on-line “expert”?
I like the idea that Seth Godin has with his company Squidoo and that is “Everyone is an expert on something.” Whether that something is being able to cook corn in hundreds of various ways, being able to recall pi several thousand digits long, or juggling bowling balls; they are still an expert as long as they can demonstrate it.
In order to demonstrate their expertise, they would have to establish themselves over time as an authority on the subject by generating more content. This will increase their social proof to the community that they know what they are talking about. In my opinion, that is how you determine an expert online.
In the end, I think it is pretty easy to spot a fake and very hard to to fake it that long.
I remember reading an article several months ago in Time (online) about how the expanding popularity of facebook, was making the internet less anonymous, and more like “real life.” That it was about people communicating as themselves, not as a separate online persona.
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