Taking vs. giving

Hugh MacLeod at Gapingvoid has the best explanation of the difference between Web 1.0 vs. Web 2.0 I’ve come across in a long time. It’s all very simple:

"Dotcom was about 'taking'. Web 2.0 is about 'giving'."

Being part of the Dotcom era (yes, I’ve been around for that long…) I remember how we created things for the users hoping they would use it. The users should just take what we were giving/offering them. No interaction.

Now interaction is a must. We want the customers to be part of what we do and say. We want them to share their thoughts, ideas, photos, video etc. The whole wide world web has turn into a big community where we all give and share most everything. Good or bad, I don’t know. But I do like the feeling of community and being part of something big that we’ve only seen the start of. Giving is here to stay.