Streamline Training & Documentation: Steve Rubel on the Decentralized Web

Sunday, September 02, 2007

Steve Rubel on the Decentralized Web

So many of the prognostications I read concerning where the growing versatility and customer usage of the Web are taking us turn out to be unpersuasive speculation, that when I come upon something that fits my own experience and that has an air of practicality, I take note.

Such was an column Steve Rubel, a senior VP at the PR firm Edelman, published at AdAge Digital on August 20. In his column, Rubel recommends "three simple steps marketers should consider to thrive in a web that is increasingly becoming decentralized."

Think web services, not websites — Instead of concentrating all their efforts at attracting prospects and customers to their websites, companies need to devote increasing energy to embedding themselves on platforms that accommodate third parties' mini-applications, such as widgets.

Connect people — Increasingly, people are congregating at sites that help them meet a common goal, such as being entertained or obtaining information about a particular topic. In Rubel's view, "To thrive, brands need to identify these motivations and participate in these new microcontent platforms in a way that helps consumers meet their goals."

Make everything portable — I.e., "make everything on your website embeddable [on other sites]. Traffic is becoming something that happens elsewhere, not just on your site."

When I read Rubel's list, my immediate thought was that this is the sort of compactly presented intelligence on new media trends that should be circulated and discussed at any organization which is trying to maintain a respected, high-profile presence on the web.

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Labels: Branding, Web 2.0

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