Something funny about this whole Web 2.0 thing…much of what makes the experience is made of written words (setting aside the ongoing radical redefinition of “written”).

Wikis, blogs, social networks, and so much of that juicy UGC (shudder).

Interactions, meaning, and value are built with language, especially when one aims to be device-independent.

Text is the most efficient and least disruptive means for us humans to handle the tremendous amount of complex information coming at us from different sources. (Imagine your 10 open IMs as concurrent spoken conversations.)

Short bursts of text are highly addictive, like wordcrack. Pithy headlines catch our eye. We won’t stop checking Twitter at the bar. And lolcats propagate by exploiting our latent longing to get Hooked on Phonics. (See: Anil Dash, occasional lolcat critic.)

So, if you are beavering away to create the next winning web application, you could be a follow fashion monkey with your tone and text, the last in line for a massage. Or you could strike your own unique balance between appealing novelty and useful convention.

The latter will help you win friends and influence people.

A couple weeks ago I went to London in search of the perfect $27 beer, and to give a talk about this very subject. (Thanks Brian Oberkirch and CARSONIFIED! for inviting me) Audio and slides are now available. There are some funny counter-examples and a photo of a half-naked man in a rabbit mask to sweeten the deal.

Written by Erika Hall on October 16, 2007 |