David Meerman Scott writes about his “The Web as a city” analogy in his latest post. I think it makes sense, and as he mentioned, I find it is a good one to discuss with social media cynics and those who cannot see the value of this important form of communication.
I always think the Web as a “Service at shops, restaurants, or hotel in a city.” Therefore, my analogy to see the service or operation at those places has been changed since I started to work on the Web.
Worth a reading.
I’m fond of thinking of the Web as a city.
Seeing the Web as a city helps make sense of each aspect of online life and how we create and interact.
Corporate sites are the storefronts on main street peddling wares. Craigslist is like the bulletin board at the entrance of the corner store; Ebay, a garage sale; Amazon, a bookstore replete with patrons anxious to give you their two cents. Mainstream media sites like The New York Times online are the newspapers of the city. Chatrooms and forums are the pubs and salons of the online world. You’ve even got the proverbial wrong-side-of-the-tracks spots via the Web’s adult-entertainment and sp*m underbelly.
Satoshi Niikura Weblog 