Why you need Sparky and Chief if you're Web 2.0

Saw this on the Discovery Channel Store. It's a set of cubes with stick men inside of it and they interact with each other when you put them next to each other. Every Web 2.0 entrepreneur should buy a couple and take them to analyst meetings and media interviews. This is exactly the social phenomena we see at MySpace, TagWorld, Wikipedia and of course TheGoodBlogs. All Web 2.0 is doing is providing the tools to make it easier for people to have ad hoc conversations and sharing a common grounds and interest, be it a blog, a podcast, a video or chat. Creating communities requires a focal point, stimulus, collaboration, trust and contribution. Focal point because you need something in common to draw your members together. Stimulus because there is an energy minima that you have to overcome to ensure there is enough momemtum to keep it going. Collaboration because refinement is a collective activity. Trust because you start building relationships with other community members. Contribution because members stay because of the emotional equity they build over time either because of the relationships they've built, the time that they've spent or the comfort zone that they created.

If IM and email were invented today, would they be regarded as Web 2.0?

And no, I don't get a cent from you buying any Cube Worlds. After all, it is Web 2.0.