The Changing Face of OnlineCommunities and Communications

Edwin AokiChief Architect, AOL

Future of WebApplicationsConference

Feb. 20, 2007

1

In theBeginning…

2

Where it all began

From itsbeginnings,

community hasbeen a key

promise of theWeb

Courtesy: CERN and the Internet Archive

3

Agenda

• Current state of web applications for online communities andcommunications

• Near-term trends• Thoughts and implications

4

Webmail is the leading driver of page views

Source: Portal property Rankings and Market Share by VerticalHitwise (www.hitwise.com), May 2006

Email Svcs (1089

sites)

9.32%

Search Engines

(2322 sites)

7.32%

News/Media

(6080 sites)

3.40%

Business and

Finance

(1030 sites)

0.57%

All Others

79.38%

5

Chat and Instant Messaging take to the web

Web based IM and chat tools allow users to stay connectedwithout the need for a dedicated client, giving up very littleof the experience, thanks to modern web UI technologies.

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“Obvious” community applications on the Web

Blogging

Message Boards

Social Networking

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And some less obvious ones…

Reference

Auctions

Commerce

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Predecessor of the modern mashup?

Courtesy: WebRing/GeoCities/Yahoo! and the Internet Archive

9

IndustryTrends

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Disaggregation and syndication

•Users seek out the experiences and communitiesthey’re interested in

•Allows for highly tailored and focused experiences– Fulfilling the promise of the “Long Tail”

•Content and service providers don’t control thecontext in which their applications are used or seen

•Can be a boon for application providers, but also achallenge– YouTube, Photobucket, Flickr

11

Web apps, too will become syndicated

• For content, it’s “embedding”, for applications “mashups”• Community and Communication Tools are key candidates• Embedding community and/or

communications tools increasesengagement and drives value tocontent providers– IM (shown)– Message boards– Ratings and profiling

• These interactions will increasinglytake place in situ, rather than indedicated “destinations”

12

Community goes mobile

• Content and Community applications will follow users towhere they work, play, and live

13

Sometimes Second Life comes first

• The world between online and virtual blurs rapidly• “Real world” brands are trying to establish an identity in virtual worlds

– BBC, Toyota, Vodafone, AOL, just to name a few

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Our SharedResponsibility

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“With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility”

• As technologists, we must make sure that the tools and services webuild can be used safely and effectively

• Most users aren’t aware and/or don’t care about the implications ofbeing online– Security/Privacy– Spam– Social Effects

• Decentralization is particularly disruptive for the traditional “trustmodel” of applications– “Who to trust” is a complex question when services are provided by multiple

providers– Distributed identity management systems such as OpenID complicate this

even further

Quote: Spiderman, 2002

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Bridging the “Digital Divide”

•Applications we build must be accessible to all– The visually, audibly, or motion impaired– Older generations– Different socioeconomic backgrounds– People of developing and emerging nations

•Everyone benefits when online communitiesrepresent a wide range of backgrounds, cultures,and interests

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The Future is in the Balance

• Power and Ease of Use• Social Benefits and Commercial Interests• Online and Offline Interactions

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Thank You

Edwin Aokiaoki@aol.net

To learn more about the AOL technologies referenced in thispresentation, please visit dev.aol.com