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'SOCIAL WEB' HAS FAR TO GO, BUT MUCH PROMISE

The American Reporter Vol. 11, No. 2,588 - February 23, 2005

"'SOCIAL WEB' HAS FAR TO GO, BUT MUCH PROMISE
Andy Oram
American Reporter webmaster
Cambridge, Mass.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Two ideas, diametrically opposed in philosophy and approach, have seized the attention of Internet companies and technologists over the first few years of this century. Given that the century will be so long and we have barely started yet, it's hard to say which will turn out to be most important. One stresses classification, the other community. These two ideas are attracting both money and attention, but neither has yet borne fruit.

The first idea goes by such names as the 'semantic web' - coined by Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of the World Wide Web - and 'Web Services.' It leads to infinite meetings of standards bodies, taking up hours of valuable technologists' time, who report year after year on the tremendous progress they are making toward ever receding and ever more audacious goals.

The other idea goes by the name 'social networking,' and brings out breathless talk of a revolution in social relationships, supposedly to be opened up by 'frictionless connectivity': the ability to find almost instantly the person who can meet your specific personal or career-related needs.

After several years of experiments in each area, outlines are emerging for the domains where each idea may prove valuable. Web Services, for instance, can save time and money wherever organizations have formalized relationships, such as companies placing routine orders for goods. The reasons that Web Services do not play a more disruptive role - the reasons they cannot deliver the whole world to one's screen through standardized search techniques - will be discussed in this article."

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