The Evolution of the Internet Society

One of the recurring subjects mentioned on the Trendwatch is the parallelism between sociological and historical themes applied to the online – such as the Invisible Hand for example. But the fact is that we’ve never tried to explain why we do it. Why is it important for marketers and online managers to understand what makes the internet, and most importantly, what makes the internet audience tick?
It’s quite simple – we know that the Internet is a Media tool like the Television or the Press but the fact is that it goes far beyond it. The Internet is a society by itself where people are free to express their free will and practically live a life disassociated from their real self. Yes, nothing new there. The reason why we keep analyzing the impact of the Internet, Web 2.0 and Internet Audiences is because the Internet is undergoing evolutions quite similar to our society – from the dawn of time to the classical age.
Consider this – when the Internet was first created we know that it didn’t allow a very complex interaction from the users. Like the Stone Age Society there wasn’t a common language approved and understood by all as only the detainers of technical skills were able to communicate online, necessities were basic and much wasn’t expected.
With the rise of Web 2.0 we entered the classical age – where the Greek democracy showed the power of the people and of free speech. Content was king and it was the time were the basis for today’s knowledge were first laid out – such as philosophy, politics, mathematics, amongst other great advancements of that age. On Web 2.0 we witnessed such a phenomenon – Social media tools started emerging allowing users to share their knowledge on an equal level and like in Ancient Greece a few users had a little more power in their opinions than others (Kevin Rose, Steve Jobs, you know who I am talking about). Concepts like social entertainment, the longtail, online oxygen, amongst others, started to give true shape to the Internet and created the common basis for online sociology and philosophy yet to come. Mentors have risen and are freely sharing their knowledge towards their school of thought, be it focused on Search Engines, Social Tools or Front-end tools – like ancient philosophers with their students. I could go on with the comparison but I believe you got the picture.
So we should start looking towards the future – if the online society is evolving in a similar way to our own society, then we can loosely predict the next steps. Empires will rise and fall, new comers will develop new tools that will surpass the previous changing how the users interact online, new business models will rise shifting the free knowledge sharing to a profitable income. All of this might happen or not, but the truth is you should start looking at the internet with broader eyes – it’s a society we’re talking about, not just a simple communication tool.