Some years ago, I described the social web as the “Hippie Web”. Some people thought that was funny, especially those who also thought that some of the evangelist reactions was a little bit too… enthusiastic. To give you an idea, here’s a list of a couple of not too uncommon mindsets we’ve gotten used to:
1. “Wow, we can connect with each other on a digital level, that’s radical, man!”
2. “Everything is open to everyone at anytime—welcome to Nirvana, dude!”
3. “You must open up your power chakras… sorry, I meant activate your social graphs, people!”
4. “I accept all friend requests and I firmly believe that we all should. All you need is love!”
5. “Yay bro, nice going. You just posted a tweet, and look—it got retweeted. It’s the universe paying it forward!”
6. “Don’t say ‘IRL’ because what is reality, really? Neo bro, it’s the question that drives us!”
7. “I have thousands of followers. I wouldn’t call myself Jesus or anything, but I guess I don’t really have to, right?”
8. “Yes, we have gatherings and everyone is welcome. Word to wise—don’t ever use your real name!”
9. “Oh no, why did you shave and cut your hair? And where’s your scarf? No disrespect, but you look corporate, dude!”
10. “I met a real company yesterday. They have nooo idea what’s going on. They asked for help and I said ‘Join the revolution, baby’ and walked away. Far out, right?”
You see my point?
I think it’s time to declare the Hippie Web… D-E-A-D.
No-one will miss this psychedelic wonderland—except the hippies of course. And frankly, I strongly suggest we let them get cyber stoned on their own dime from now on.
The original pioneers, the glossy online fashionistas with their daily outfits and their parties and VIP invitations, they are already negotiating with their agents regarding their latest corporate collaborations. And the successful ones are probably making more money than you and me together. What they can’t get from ad revenues, giveaways and freebies, they get from starting their own online businesses.
And while the hippies where sitting in camp fire circles singing Kumbaya, the corporations packed their gear and went out on the field of battle. Bruised and scarred, they returned with tons of real experience which they’re now deploying in a massive scale.
As we move on to more serious activities and plunge into business ventures, professionalism, sophisticated strategies and even more advanced technologies, just let me say this in honor of this bygone era:
Let’s never forget that the bottom line is all about one thing and one thing only—human beings. let’s stay true to that.
Peace out!
[...] where visual representation and interactivity is at the hands of everyone (instead of only the Tech Hippies). Not just for everyone to interact with, but to create its functional [...]