The individual user has been king on the Internet, but the pendulum seems to be swinging back toward edited information vetted by professionals.
By Tony Dokoupil | Newsweek Web Exclusive
Mar 6, 2008 | Updated: 11:42 a.m. ET Mar 6, 2008
By any name, the current incarnation of the Internet is known for giving power to the people. Sites like YouTube and Wikipedia
collect the creations of unpaid amateurs while kicking pros to the
curb—or at least deflating their stature to that of the ordinary
Netizen. But now some of the same entrepreneurs that funded the
user-generated revolution are paying professionals to edit and produce
online content.
In short, the expert is back. The revival comes amid mounting demand
for a more reliable, bankable Web. "People are beginning to recognize
that the world is too dangerous a place for faulty information," says Charlotte Beal,
a consumer strategist for the Minneapolis-based research firm
Iconoculture. Beal adds that choice fatigue and fear of bad advice are
creating a "perfect storm of demand for expert information."
In December, Google began testing Knol, a Wikipedia-like Web site produced by "authoritative" sources that share ad revenue. The sample page
contains an insomnia entry written by Rachel Manber, director of
Stanford's Insomnia and Behavioral Sleep Medicine center. In January, BigThink.com,
a self-styled "YouTube for ideas" backed by former Harvard president
Larry Summers and others, debuted its cache of polished video
interviews with public intellectuals. "We think there's demand for a
nook of cyberspace where depth of knowledge and expertise reign," says
cofounder Victoria Brown...
Full story: http://www.newsweek.com/id/119091/page/1
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