In workshops and talks, I’ve been suggesting that the web has become balkanized. Three separate entities have emerged; the reference web, the collaborative web, and the broadband web.
Of course, these are all websites in the end, and all part of the World Wide Web. However, only in rare cases are blogs (for example) just one element of a larger site. In nearly all cases, the blog is the site. The blogosphere is an entity unto itself, separate and distinct from the rest of the web. Compare that to message boards which, in nearly all cases, have been subordinate elements of a larger reference website.
Similarly, Wikipedia is its own site as is TheNewPR. Rocketboom is just a vidcast with supporting links. They are distinct from traditional reference web content.
I have also been suggesting that this balkanization is temporary, that these three elements of the web will eventually reintegrate. I’ve been guessing that this would take three to five years, but the news yesterday that AOL had acquired Jason Calacanis’ blog network Weblogs may lead me to accelerate my estimate. While AOL insists that Weblogs will continue to operate independently as a wholly owned subsidiary, AOL is planning to integrate the blogs into its web portal by linking to specific entries.
For example, according to one report, “Visitors to AOL’s Moviefone, for instance, might see referrals to Weblogs’ Cinematical blog on films.” Hence the blogs become an element of a larger, more traditional website.
Whether this is good, bad, or neutral is something we can debate endlessly. For instance, it’ll be harder to quantify what the buzz within the blogosphere or its influence when blogs are subsumed back into the overall web. Either way, the AOL acquisition may signal the beginning of this inevitable reintegration.
Shel Holtz is principal of Holtz Communication + Technology which focuses on helping organizations apply online communication capabilities to their strategic organizational communications.
As a professional communicator, Shel also writes the blog a shel of my former self.
