- The phrase “user-generated content.” Has there ever been a more condescending or less descriptive phrase for human expression and creation and connection?
- The techmeme pile-on effect. Why does everyone have to write about the same stuff all at once? You all are smart people… let’s see some original ideas and topics. Of course, if you weren’t linked on techmeme, I’d have no idea what you’re writing about, because that’s where I get my news. D’oh!
- The fiction that Web 2.0 doesn’t mean anything. People say no one knows what it means… and then they describe what it is.
- Too many to do list applications. As a Web Worker Daily writer, of course I’m interested in to do lists and applications implementing them. But just because you can build one with whatever web framework you’re trying to learn doesn’t mean you should release it as a beta and expect me to write about it.
- Privileged old media types complaining when the rules change. Why should journalistic ethics apply to mombloggers trying to make a little income on the side? How can Dan Gillmor say with a straight face that bloggers described in this article are practicing something like journalism? Does he think the whole world measures themselves against what’s important to him and defines themselves in terms that he reifies?
- Too many web startups. Yawn. Boring.
- The idea that we need MORE information than what’s already in web pages. That kind of reminds me of people who need a god (or God) outside themselves to feel like life is meaningful. The most anti-nihilistic way to live is to understand that life itself is meaningful enough without imagining or creating some external meaning. The web itself has enough meaning in it. We don’t have to impose it from outside.
- Getting Things Done. The productivity virus so many of us have been infected with in 2006 and 2007. Let’s move on. Getting lots of stuff done is not the way to achieve something important. You could be so busy planning next actions that you miss out on what your real contribution should be.
- Press releases. Okay, these are not really Web 2.0. But so many Web 2.0 Wannabes use them. Press releases suck. As Steve says, they’re mostly unreadable and of limited value. Have your developers write a blog post instead.
- Grumpy cranky posts complaining about Web 2.0. Everyone gets a little grumpy and cranky sometimes, though.
-
About Anne
Anne Truitt Zelenka is a web technologist turned high school math teacher. She is the author of Connect! A Guide to a New Way of Working. She writes about family at The Everyday Cafe. Read more about Anne.
-
Subscribe
Categories
- Asides
- Blogging
- Books
- Browsers
- Career
- Coding
- Computing
- Conferences
- Connect
- Content Management
- CSS
- Delicious Links
- Economics
- Education
- Enterprise Software
- Etcetera
- Food & Wine
- Identity
- Innovation
- Marketing
- Media
- Mindfulness
- Open Source
- Parenting
- Personal
- Philosophy
- Productivity
- Psychology
- RSS
- Shopping
- Social Science
- Software Development
- Teaching
- Usability
- Web 2.0
- Web Design
- Web Development
- Women and Men
- Writing
- XML
22 Comments
Touche! Have I told you about our mixed media multifile embeddable flash player that takes updates by RSS?
Seriously, I ought to some time, you cynic 
Ah, ToDo lists. I thought everyone knew that ToDo lists are designed to help you AVOID work, rather than help you DO work. I learned this a long time ago, one of my coworkers taught me. He said I should keep a ToDo list on my computer screen all the time, and whenever the boss asked me to do something useless, assign it a high (but not top) priority. Then always keep clearly-important items (stuff you’d have to do anyway) above the Boss’s items. That way, when the Boss asked why you haven’t got his useless task done yet, you just show him your computer screen, point and say, “I’ll get to it as soon as I can, it’s right here on my ToDo list!” And he can’t complain when he sees real important stuff with higher priority than his useless task.
“Too many web startups. Yawn. Boring.”
Really? I doubt it’s boring for the folks BEHIND these startups so I must disagree:)
As an entrepreneur, I would counter that one with “Being told there is already a startup like one you are building.” Sure, just like there was Yahoo search and MSN search and Altavista search…before google.
–Zaid
Anne! Good ones, esp. TechMeme Pile-o-matic, though I think the big problem there is not TechMeme, rather most bloggers are reluctant to link to new and original content.
>>Why does everyone have to write about the same stuff all at
>>once? You all are smart people… let’s see some original
>>ideas and topics.
Okay, Anne. I just wrote a little e-book called Unfashionably Late: Why Every Book About Blogging Written Before 2009 Is Already Obsolete (Except for this one, I give this one three weeks.)
The semi-original idea? That blogging is showing signs of age.
The original idea? That it can be rejuvenated by remembering what was good about, say, 2002 (the year I first blogged.)
Other original idea? (part a) That the economics of blogging are primarily concerned with the hours of effort required to earn the coin of the realm, which is the link. And (part b) that since links are not all equal, we need a unit of link quality. I suggest “the scoble.”
Check it. You saw it here first. Didn’t have to find it on Techmeme. So I’ve provided a tiny amelioration of one of the things you hate…
No charge, my pleasure.
good list - esp 7 and 8. marshall kirkpatrick: stop shilling.
> 1. The phrase “user-generated content.”
Agreed. “content” is meaningless, as explained years ago by Doc Searls:
“My message: “Content” is crap, basically. I said I never thought I was writing “content.” Producing “content” is something I do on the john.”
> 7. The idea that we need MORE information
> than what’s already in web pages.
Completely agreed on the religion thing, but can’t see what the relation is with post-facto metadata. I think they’re great.
> 8. Getting Things Done.
That’s all in how you use it. I’m so often focused on the “big picture” (and I do mean big
) that some remainders on what to actually do next is useful.
> 10. Grumpy cranky posts complaining
> about Web 2.0.
I love the smell of fresh autoirony in the morning.
Hi … Having written many press releases in the past — hundreds, actually — I agree their value is somewhat limited these days. However, their value also varies greatly depending on market, industry, region, culture, etc. Here in Asia, for instance, they tend to carry much more authority than they do in Silicon Valley or in the American tech market generally. I’m not saying that’s a good or a bad thing, per say, but it’s just different.
Hilarious, and (far) too true.
Good list although I’m with Nicola on the Getting Things Done point - if it helps you stay focused on the high-altitude big picture, it’s not just about Next Actions. Too many people seem to get lost in the weeds on the practices and miss the point on the principles altogether which is fairly typical techie blogger behavior.
All in all, any list of ten things that I agree with 9.5 of is a great list IMO. Nicely done.
One thing I love about Web 2.0
Women like Anne
Like a breath of fresh air
>2. The techmeme pile-on effect.
Guess you won’t be reading any of my slightly original stuff errr .. content
>5. Privileged old media types complaining when the rules change.
Yes he does
>10. Grumpy cranky posts complaining about Web 2.0.
Oh so very true
Much to my chagrin, you got Techmemed, and I got dragged along for what obviously looks like #2, the Techmeme pile-on. Just as a robots file can guide spiders in crawling a web site, I wish I could place a cookie that says Techmeme is a waste of space I don’t care about. Never link me there. I almost never look at it and find it to be useless crap really. It’s a good place to find what I’ve already heard too much about.
It’s not just Techmeme. Simply scanning my list of blogs every day (and they’re not all techy) I often get this sinking feeling of: “Oh, gawd, not another post about x” - iPhone, SXSW, you name it.
If you want to read something different, well: I don’t do it consciously, but I seem to be anti-trendy. Story of my life - don’t fit in anybody’s boxes, never have, never will. And certainly don’t want to write about them.
> … Why should journalistic ethics apply to mombloggers …
Wait wait wait, bloggers want the journalistic rights, but not the responsibilities? Really, the only ones in the media outlets complaining are those who have job stability issues, meanwhile the rest of them just get on with business, and even might embrace this web 2.0 malarkey, if it could earn them some greater exposure.
> Press releases.
Remember the fake paparazzi press pits from the dot com bubble? Just another way of a startup to feel like they are being loved, I guess.
Anne, I have the greatest respect for what you write but must say that I am most puzzled by your listing of item 8 and wondered whether you have actually read the book?
Yes, I have read it, Pascal, a number of times. Allen has good ideas–and he certainly addresses the issue of figuring out what your priorities are and then aiming your actions towards those. Sometimes I think some people get lost in the weeds of it though and forget that there are alternative and sometimes better or more meaningful ways of meeting life’s challenges.
Great post!
I strongly agree with it (expecially on the seventh).
Marc Orchant says “Too many people seem to get lost in the weeds on the practices…”
Anne says 2 days later “Sometimes I think some people get lost in the weeds of it though…”
Maybe Anne’s next action should be some original thought.
Really GTD is not just about sitting around and planning every single moment of your life. Allen clearly states that GTD does not effectively address the higher levels, but he does help you understand the relationship between your Runway actions and your Purpose on the planet.
Michael: you’re taking it too seriously. I admitted with #10 that I was in a cranky grumpy mood. I’ve written plenty of nice things about GTD and used it effectively myself at times. Doesn’t mean I can’t poke at it every now and then.
As for Marc Orchant, I have no idea who he is. “in the weeds” is a cliche — so if you’re going to engage in insults, at least make them accurate. How about “maybe Anne’s next action should be to remove trite phrases from her writing” which is something I could get behind. Original ideas? None of us have them, and I don’t think you should be slamming someone with that, given you’re here pushing David Allen’s work.
Hi Anne:
When I look at your list I see a common thread for most of these items…too much, too many, busy, more, etc.
I’ve found that my life and attention has become so fragmented by the over abundant sources of quick information and new ways to share and communicate that I’ve adapted by trying to constantly multitask, which I afraid I don’t do so well. It’s hard to even find enough time and peace of mind to sit down and read a book without feeling I need to “keep in touch.”
Kathy Sierra touches on this same theme in her post “Is Twitter TOO good” which I’m certain you’ve probably read. I’ve refused to even look at Twitter. I certainly don’t need additional input!
Maybe Web 2.0 is the new addiction and we need detox clinics.
It’s not just too many to-do lists, it’s too many of the same things over and over again.
How can anyone get excited about a “new” rss reader, or a “new” way to manage your bookmarks when they’re essentially identical bar the logo to the old “new” ways.
8 Trackbacks
[...] On Twitter, my friend Ann Zelenka refers to this as a cranky post, but it really isn’t. Stowe Boyd writes here about our new reality of continuous partial attention. We’re all in the stream/flow of consciouness of information. We take sips of information and share. We touch one another in passing as well. [...]
[...] Anne 2.1 » Blog Archive » Ten Things I Hate About You, Web 2.0 (tags: web2.0) [...]
[...] אז כמובן ששמחתי לקרוא את הטקסט הנחמד הזה של אחת בשם אן 2.1, שמסתבר שהיא גם אחת מהכותבות של Web Worker Daily, שמתלוננת על כל מיני אספקטים מאוסים של ווב 2.0, ומשחררת גם את הקטע הבא כאייטם השמיני ברשימה שלה: [...]
[...] Anne seems to have struck a chord with thing #8 she hates about web 2.0: [...]
[...] Bridging the Browser and Desktop Posted March 12, 2007 I was reading a funny post earlier (Ten Things I Hate About You, Web 2.0) that got me thinking. I’m no fan of the Web 2.0 buzz, but I do like sound business models. Over at Webware, I saw an exciting preview of new Trillian Astra Web Client. Basically, it uses Flash (not the new Apollo) to launch an application independent of the web browser. According to Webware, “the new client has access to the PC’s system tray, the file system, and more.” That’s exciting. [...]
[...] 10 Things Anne Zelenka Hates About Web 2.0 A great posting from Anne Zelenka about her Top Ten Hates About Web 2.0… [...]
[...] Ten Things I Hate About You, Web 2.0 [...]
[...] Anne Zelenka sums up my feelings about Web 2.0: “Why does everyone have to write about the same stuff all at once? You all are smart people… let’s see some original ideas and topics.” [...]