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Monday, February 16, 2009

Web 3.0 has arrived and it makes no sense at all.

It goes by the name of Twine and, according to its homepage and the smatterings of press I noticed around the place, it allows you to collate online content, store it all in one place and share with friends. Where it trumps its predecessors, and what makes it 3.0, is its 'semantic' understanding, which means it 'learns'. And the more you use it, the more connections and recommendations it can make, tailored to you.

Given that I am the proud owner of a hotmail account, a facebook account, a twitter account, a google account for blogs and docs, a de.li.cio.us account, an ebay account, a paypal account, and who knows how many other countless log-ins and memberships all over the net, the thought of one go-to place for all, or even some, of it seems pretty tempting.

And so, in the name of research, I signed up to Twine. But unlike its predecessors, there was no moment of 'ahah! THIS is what my life has been missing!'. I remember first signing up to Hotmail - my email inbox wherever there was an internet connection. First signing up to Facebook - all my friends, all my events, all my photos, all under one roof. And that has what made these websites successful - a simple idea that takes 5 seconds to 'get'.



On Twine, however, I felt lost and confused. I felt left behind and insecure. Where do I go? what do I do? The two questions a visitor to a website - no matter their age, location or experience - should never ask. I logged off.

I have no doubt that more persistent friends of mine will soon be telling me what I'm missing and I will nod patronisingly and tell them I'd been signed up for yonks, but right now I'm just not ready for 3.0