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User Generated Content - the fatal flaw of Web 2.0?

by Darren

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Web 2.0 is the poster boy of the new online revolution. Web 2.0 is the Timothy Leary of the digital age. But one big problem lies in wait on the road to Nirvhana. Web 2.0 has an over-reliance on submissions from untrusted users, many of whom are idiots or worse.. As Don Dodge points out in his article on UGC, the users must be severely and consistently monitored.

Anyone who has ever managed a simple web form knows the danger of allowing insecure form submissions. This type of person will attempt to place content on your system:

1) Someone promoting their product - aka Spammers
2) Criminals who have no regard for others
3) Completely normal people who are unaware of laws may place illegal or otherwise copyrighted material unwittingly upon your gloried page
4) Scallywags, scoundrels, hos, pimps, rogues, and charlatans who love posting off-topic jibberish on the internet, often with a URL inserted in the message like a fat polish sausage in a weiner bun

So what lies in store for Web 2.0? Who knows, but one thing we can be sure of. The companies who are making bank will have to pay the piper, when and not if, these legal issues come to a head. Unrestrained growth can end up in an trainwreck if no ones steering the wheel on the tiny but important details. Time will tell which one of the Web 2.0 darlings can manage the needs of companies versus the wanting of the public to bootleg content. The big winner might be the one who finds the middle road.

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