People ≠ money!

For those readers of my blog who don't yet read Chinese, the character in this graphic means "person."

After attending the 3rd Annual Chinese Blogger Conference which is one of the most egalitarian conferences on the planet, you get spoiled.

Then you go to a more corporate-oriented Web2.0 conference where executives and business school professors talk about Web 2.0 as the latest way to deliver products and advertising to customers and viewers, and you get highly annoyed.

As a user, I don't consider a business to be truly 2.0 unless it has transformed its relationship with its customers and users from a one-way relationship to a give-and-take among equals. 

Treating human beings like a "market" to be "exploited" is 1.0 thinking.   2.0 means replacing the word "market" with "community."  If you really want to be a 2.0 business, you need to become a respectful, participating member of your community. Otherwise, you're still a 1.0 business trying to use 2.0 tools in a 1.0 way.   

Comments

[Frankenstein]

I like the assumption in your first line that everyone, everywhere, will eventually learn to read Chinese....

[Rebecca MacKinnon]

hehe, yeah. well, yes... ;)

[Kempton]

Without getting into the definition of Web 2.0, I agree that it makes good business sense to view ones' clients as a "customer community".

In a iStockphoto case study that I co-authored last year, it was amazing to hear the founder's view on creating a great and vibrant community. And his thought of only charging the minimum to cover costs in the beginning years was definitely the total opposite of "exploiting customers".

P.S. I haven't fact checked the following video. But to play with your idea of "readers of my blog who don't yet read Chinese", there are also some Chinese that should probably speak and read better English (myself included). May be especially Chinese airline pilots (assuming this is not a fake video),
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SUEgeT8z7Y

[George Sun]

It is regretful to say that I fail to see any clear connexion between your explanation about the meanings of kanji and web2.0 in the leading paragraph, and I guess you may imply that "$" is the web1.0 thinking that online sphere is merely an arena for traditional business, and by "人" you mean as a 2.0 user one should concern more about the aspect of online communicative function. Am I right?

To Kempton. I saw the footage you posted. I cannot find the proper words to express my feelings as to the bloody pilot. Holy crap!

[Rebecca MacKinnon]

"人" means "person". I use the Chinese character not the English word in the graphic because Chinese symbols work better to represent concepts in graphic form than English words. Plus I am now in China. I was sitting in a conference in Beijing messaging with a Chinese friend when I just came out with "person does not equal money" in symbolic form. So we created a graphic with it. The point is that people want to be treated and respected as human beings, not just treated like ATM machines from which money needs to be coaxed.