Here's an interesting story that raises questions of the credibility of the Web 2.0 content when it is unleashed in real life.
Del. Timothy D. Hugo, a Republican state legislator from Fairfax County, has launched an attack ad on cable TV against his Democratic opponent that features unidentified, unverified quotes from a blog. The advertising shows negative comments from the Raising Kaine's blog, comments that criticize Rex Simmons, the Democratic opponent. Commenting on this blog is anonymous and accessible to anyone.
Negative campaigning in political duels usually consist of bringing up negative but verifiable information. In this ad, as quotes flash across the screen, the narrator says Simmons is "running the most cowardly campaign I have ever seen" and "has been lying to voters the entire campaign"."We just can't trust Rex Simmons," the ad concludes.
The question raised here is: Does a blog's comment belongs anywhere else then on a blog?
What seems obvious at first regarding Hugo's ad is the use of an unverified information from an unknown source. That's just bad advertising. However, this unverified information from an unknown source is the content that is driving the Web 2.0 wave.
We read blogs and react to posts and comments. Most of the time, we interact with people we don't know, meaning we discuss with unknown sources who transmit unverified information. And it's ok. The Web is a big Chinese Whispers game. Social distortions are part of the online fun.
This content lives up the Web and generates a deep socialization change. We are all attached to being users who generate content. We take pride in this content. What a downer to hear that using 2.0 content for mass communication purposes doesn't work. It's not valid content. It's nothing more than a mere nobody's opinion.
While people wonder what is the best Web 2.0 business model to make profits out of online discussions, some people remind us that whatever its value online, it has none offline. Your comment is significant only around other comments, at the bottom of a post.
Once again, we see more than before that the New Web is made of groups of people exchanging ideas, and that one person's ideas, when singled out from the group's discussions, has no value... At all. Be glad you are not alone.
