Is that the Fat Lady I hear singing

I have never hidden my feelings on this whole Web 2.0 daisy chain of business modeless startups incubated over Starbucks latte’s and unoriginal copycat pastel colored websites that looked more for exit strategies than to bring anything incredible to the table.

While incredible valuations are being floated around creating paper billionaires in the process the fact is none of them are predicated on being more than glorified advertising network or methods to feed ad networks. This reality though never stopped  the early adopters from jumping on the bandwagon and whooping it up at VC sponsored parties or conferences that did nothing more than reiterate the same marketing buzzwords over and over.

Then all of a sudden this past week or so this self contained bubble being fed by endless startup and VC hot air was beginning to show some weak spots as one or two of the early adopters of the Web 2.0 hype began to sign themselves into the detox program. Slowly we are seeing terms like revolutionary and social changing from buzz words that were so prevalent throughout the Web 2.0 hype back into a reality where there is nothing really new anymore; with the few odd exceptions. It is all just a replay; with a new coat of paint, of things we have seen before.

While more notable bloggers like Frank Shaw, Rob Hyndman and uncov have been making the point since almost day one that the whole bubble was nothing new it took some analyst at Kleiner Perkins to get quoted all over the blogosphere – that Web 2.0 wasn’t worth investing in; or it took a fore runner like Steve Rubel to admit his addiction to all things Web 2.0 before people really began to believe that maybe the fat lady was singing.

Then again today Steve Rubel has yet another post about how to get over this Web 2.0 addiction with five easy steps. One of his points was to diversify your sources of information – or as I put it once not long ago in a post how can you argue your points if you don’t bother to understand the opposing views; which is one reason why I subscribe to people like Andrew Keen. Equally so not all the knowledge of the world resides within the coveted A-List of bloggers which is why I always look to; and link to, the lesser known bloggers.

Another major point Steve makes is to talk to real humans but somehow I don’t think he means just those within your usual sphere of influence because if you do that you are more likely to be affected by the yes ‘im syndrome. No .. instead talk to the lady behind the store counter, talk to Grandma Annie, have a coffee with Uncle JimBob – talk to the real people of the world around you. While the car wash attendant might might be an aspiring actor with a Facebook page they might also have not a clue about Twitter.

I have also found over time that while the A-List bloggers might be good ways to stay current on the news that marketers want you to know all about, the real helpful stuff comes from those blogs that might not even see the top end of the B-List. So putting all your knowledge eggs in an A-List basket might bring some good page views in return for links, but it is all those other hard working bloggers out there that can return you something more important – friendship and knowledge.

As far a I am concerned the sooner the A-Listers join Steven Rubel on the 5 step Web 2.0 detox program the better off the whole tech blogosphere will be – not to mention more of a benefit for all those regular readers just discovering the world that blogging and bloggers bring to them.