Thing 12

I love user generated content as much as the next person. A lot more, probably, given the metric boatload of fan fiction I've read in the last decade. However, I wouldn't necessarily hold user generated content up as the be-all and end-all.

Thing 12 has a very telling comment right in the description:

"See a theme here? No editors to decide what information is important, user-generated content, reader recommendations/sharing, and you and others get to vote on what makes the top lists—the very definition of Web 2.0."

We all know WHY user-generated content is such a popular thing, right? Yes, people like it. But it's a primo way, marketers hope, to make money -- LOTS of money -- without any work on their own part. They hope that when they build websites, people will come, and the advertising dollars will pour in. And the people do come, sometimes. Everybody's got something to say. Whether it has anything useful for me, I can't know until I wade through the thousands of voices. Which -- I don't have time.

I don't even have time for the top recommendations. I already have a couple of hobbies.

There's nothing wrong with or even new about "everybody gets to talk." The real revolution is that there might actually be people out there to hear you, if you're interesting enough. Hey, I have a friend who got a nod from Time Magazine last year as one of the top 10 blogs for her Velveteen Rabbi. That made me feel pretty connected, I can tell you. And needless to say, she does have an RSS feed.

Still, I'm not as impressed by The Revolution as I think I'm supposed to be.