When Web 2.0 was first identified as a useful social media tool it was being used by groups, individuals and networks of private citizens to communicate and share ideas. When social media such as FACEBOOK and LINKEDIN were launched, they were a mass distribution technology still primarily "owned" by the users. As such they were powerful and valuable for those who used them.
Then the entrepreneurs and the marketplace took over. MYSPACE was purchased by Murdoch, BeBo started selling music downloads and even FACEBOOK has ads. Then, horror of horrors, Web 2.0 was discovered by Government!
Now there are Steering Committees, expert reference groups, funded programmes and something called "open government". On line has become the new political communications technology - or so it would appear.
The really scary thing about Government is that they ask the same questions again and again about social media - "who controls it" and "how do we use it to get our message across"? Not the best question to pose in the face of the original purpose of Web 2.0.
There seems to be some confusion between the use of web technology to publish, dissmeninate and engage people in issues of interest, and the use of social media to open up shared ideas, forums and to generally allow people to run free and manage their agenda on their own.
It is this freedom to set the agenda that is missing from most Web 2.0 sites managed by Government and the marketplace. From the point of view of the marketplace the only issues worth discussing are ones that result in a financial transaction; and Government is looking for engagement to solve problems, not to re-define them. Communities on line are being segmented into channels to market, focus groups, reference groups and more.
Web 2.0 is about multiple access to new ideas and agendas set by the community, not the moderator. Who cares if it goes nowhere? People are perfectly capable of setting their own agendas, managing their own conversations, and leaving and joining communities at their own discretion.
Monetisation and civic engagement signal the death knell of open common spaces on line. The only blessing at the moment is that there are enough spaces where people can still play and have fun without paying for it, and without answering policy questions. How long this will be allowed to go on is anyone's guess.
It depends in part on how long we all remain in control of our own lives on line, and how long we can avoid the herd of experts thundering towards us - eager to engage, connect, facilitate and channel us towards their various domains.