How the Web is Becoming a Big Word of Mouth Machine
August 27, 2007
The day started with Robert Scoble discussing how “social graph-based search” (Mahalo, Techmeme, Facebook, etc.) is going to beat Google and other search engines.
Scott Karp summarizes Robert’s points:
- Humans can judge what’s missing from an aggregation of information on a topic
- The key to effective human filtering is leveraging a “fabric of trusted individuals”/”people who are trusted and credible”
- By connecting these trusted people through a social network, you can leverage that resulting social graph to validate trust and create network effects
Then, Karl Martino added:
(…) there is a growing role for “Trusted Human Editors In Filtering The Web”. Our friends, our families, our communities. Not just machines and algorithms. My favorite and fellow bloggers, Slashdot, Salon, the home page of the NYTimes, Philly Future, Shelley Powers, Scott himself, my news reader subscriptions, are all trusted humans, or representations of trusted humans, filtering the Web for me. So it
still comes down to trust – What organizations do we trust? What systems do we trust? What communities do we trust? What people do we trust?
What it means: I believe the web is slowly transforming itself into a big word of mouth machine. Social will eventually be embedded directly in the fabric of the world wide web. Media companies have an advantage today as they are a trusted source but those that resist the “socialization” of the web will be left behind. In the directory business, there is a saying that word of mouth is the biggest competitor out there. I think it can become the biggest opportunity in local search.
Filed in FaceBook, Google, Local Search, Mahalo, Robert Scoble, Scott Karp, Search Engines, Social Media, Social networks, Social Search, Techmeme, word-of-mouth
August 28, 2007 at 10:13 am
Enter Yelp.
August 28, 2007 at 10:13 am
Enter Yelp.
August 31, 2007 at 2:47 pm
[...] How the web is one big word of mouth machine Sebastien from praized on how the web is becoming a big word of mouth machine. [...]
August 31, 2007 at 2:47 pm
[...] How the web is one big word of mouth machine Sebastien from praized on how the web is becoming a big word of mouth machine. [...]
October 11, 2007 at 9:34 pm
[...] What it means: a few weeks ago, I blogged about the fact that word of mouth might actually be the biggest opportunity directory publishers have seen in the last few years given that the Web was becoming a big word of mouth machine. These numbers clearly show that i) traditional word of mouth is still the most trusted source of advertising and ii) online word of mouth is not far behind. It’s also interesting to note the difference in the various geographical areas. [...]
October 11, 2007 at 9:34 pm
[...] What it means: a few weeks ago, I blogged about the fact that word of mouth might actually be the biggest opportunity directory publishers have seen in the last few years given that the Web was becoming a big word of mouth machine. These numbers clearly show that i) traditional word of mouth is still the most trusted source of advertising and ii) online word of mouth is not far behind. It’s also interesting to note the difference in the various geographical areas. [...]
October 31, 2007 at 5:39 pm
[...] of social as a key element of the Web operating system and one more step towards the web becoming a gigantic word of mouth machine. You’ll want to embrace these [...]
October 31, 2007 at 5:39 pm
[...] of social as a key element of the Web operating system and one more step towards the web becoming a gigantic word of mouth machine. You’ll want to embrace these [...]
November 19, 2007 at 8:47 am
[...] and former clients” says Charleston attorney Rusty Webb. If the web is truly becoming a big word-of-mouth machine, usage might migrate to social media in the future and this might impact revenues if publishers do [...]
November 19, 2007 at 8:47 am
[...] and former clients” says Charleston attorney Rusty Webb. If the web is truly becoming a big word-of-mouth machine, usage might migrate to social media in the future and this might impact revenues if publishers do [...]
May 20, 2009 at 5:19 am
[...] many friends/followers/fans. In August 2007, I reflect on the fact that the web is becoming a big word-of-mouth machine because of human [...]