Cluetrain Authors Offer an Updated Guide To the Web

Esther Schindler points out that new "Clues" have been added to the Cluetrain Manifesto. "If you’ve ever said, 'markets are conversations' you’re quoting the words of The Cluetrain Manifesto, the ’90s-era opus on the promise of the Web. David Weinberger and Doc Searls (two of the original authors of Cluetrain) are publishing another provocative work today called New Clues. Weinberger says: 'The Cluetrain Manifesto was an attempt to explain to businesses and the media what they were getting wrong about the Web. In the broadcast era, a mass audience was fed what the media owners thought they wanted. It was one-way communication. The Web lets us communicate directly with one another about what matters to us. The Web’s been a social world since it began. A pall has descended even among those of us who have believed in the Net as an opportunity for transformation. What seemed inevitable 15 years ago now is at risk. So Doc and I thought it was time for a re-assessment. For many people, the Net now feels like just another way commercial media feed us content and toys. We can treat it like that. Or we can remember the Net’s original and true essence: it is a set of connections open to anyone. We have built wonders with it. Those days are far from over. But we have to take back the idea and meaning of the Net. We have to make sure that it stays open to everyone, every idea, and every connection.'"

Comments

Web a conversation? Try BEING POLITE.

[gestalt_n_pepper]

1) FIRST RULE: DON'T INTERRUPT ME.
2) SECOND RULE: DON'T PISS ME OFF.

Throw up a dialog box within seconds asking me to join [insert anything here], I just lost interest in anything you had to say, and I'm on to something else. See first rule.

Bounce my web page up, down and around and piss me off because whenever I try to click a link, it moves under my mouse or finger and all I do is get angry. Not very good marketing. See second rule.

Refresh my web page multiple times just... *because,* and once again I can't just click a damn link, then I just get angry again and go elsewhere. See second rule.

4) Clutter your site with ad crappy boxes full of bandwidth sucking animations that my pipe can't support because I'm using my phone as a hotspot and every byte is costing me, and once again, I'm off to something *useful.* See second rule.

5) NEVER, EVER, start playing any sort of sound automatically. I don't need to wake my spouse, child or cat to hear about your ever so special brainwave or product at 1:30 because I can't sleep. See first and second rule.

Look, if a waiter did this stuff to you in a restaurant. If he constantly interrupted, bounced the menu when you were trying to read it, constantly rearranged the dishes, silverware and cutlery while you were eating, or began to sing loudly and randomly while trying to ply you with daily special coupons during the course of your meal, you would *never* come back to that restaurant. It astonishes me every day that web designers think they can do exactly the same thing to your web page. It never seems to occur to them just how angry this behavior makes the end user.