Is web 2.0 dead? Did it evolve to something else already, before we could find a buzz word for it? Whatever it is, I can’t say I like it. Are we prepared to loose all that was pure and that we loved and watch as corporations infiltrate and manipulate everything the long tail worked so hard to accomplish?

It seems to me that social networks are selling out and are opening their seams to company investment, making the participatory web more and more like the bad old days: monetization-oriented environments.

Facebook can’t resist product and brand pages, nor targeted ads. Flickr now accepts video, in an effort to seduce YouTubers into their platform. MySpace and YouTube wink at corporations, granting them access and tools.

Ok, making money is great, but in this case monetization leads to tyranny – which eventually will lead to a revolution caused by mass discontentment.

If things keep evolving this way at this pace, the chicken with the golden eggs will surely be slaughtered, and great achievements might be lost. Things should stay user focused, not company focused.