Twitter – the nail in the coffin for Web 2.0

Andrew Keen: Web 2.0 Is F*cked (The Next Web 2009) from Robin Wauters on Vimeo.

The Next Web 2009 in Amsterdam started with a bang.  Tech Crunch of Europe had a chance to talk to Andrew Keen and his anti-web 2.0 faith.  It can be summed up in one quote:

Twitter the ‘nail in the coffin of Web 2.0.’  The future of individual media in the age of the individual… a future when individuals become brands. People with skills are able to sell their skills on the network. I call this real time social media. – Andrew Keen

Mr. Keen focuses on the new age of individualism where we are the commercial product.  A mixture of what he calls,

Darwin and Marx at the same time.

I can understand his point and witness individualism in action with the whole Ashton Kutcher and CNN’s race to a million followers on Twitter, or the feudal aspect of Twitter with Hugh Jackman’s $100,000 charity challenge.  Though to dismiss the power of the masses to the strength of a singular identity may be a bit premature.  Facebook constantly bends at user requests, look at the latest fiasco and innovation is driven by the needs of the many.  Plus can you replicate this power of the masses in terms of Twitter followers?  That we do not know…yet.

Tags: social networking, web 2.0