Web 2.0 isn’t bringing us closer together. . .

Web 2.0 may be a great way to interact personally without ever meeting anyone, but I’m already tired of it.

My phone rings. I’m on the Do Not Call list, so I pick it up, knowing it can’t be a telemarketer. But it’s a charitable organization, using telemarketing techniques. Calling me at dinner.
“I’m on the Do Not Call List,” I explain.
“Well, Ma’am, we are an exception to that list,” the caller proudly proclaims “and your number came up on my screen.”
“Just because you found a loophole doesn’t mean I have to talk to you.” I answer, and hang up.

I get an e-vite for a party. I have to check my calendar and ask my husband, too. Before I get the chance, I get six “reply to all” responses from people who pushed wrong buttons, want to know if I’m bringing a gift, and one from someone who said her party is the same day, but she just hasn’t had time to send out her e-vites yet. What am I supposed to do with that information?

Moving down the list, I’m invited to Link In with someone I don’t know. Dump it. It crawls out of my trash can and informs me I haven’t answered it. I mark it as spam and dump it again.

Another invitation to check out some books another person is reading and see if I want to make suggestions on what she should read next. I don’t know this person. I know her website. I may get her newsletter if she’s the person I think she is. I dump the email.

The next day I get a reminder that this person is waiting for me to join her virtual book club and tell her what to read. The least I can do, the email says, is “compare what I’ve read to what she’s read.” I roll my virtual eyes. That could take years. And I don’t. want. to.

I’m perplexed. Web 2.0 has no room for the polite silence of “I’m ignoring you.” And worse, perfectly fine business emails are getting dumped because the ether is clogged with virtual taps on the shoulder. It’s the junk mail we hated when the postal service left it at our door. It’s not more lovable now that it’s called Web 2.0 and gets here faster.

I send an email letting her know I don’t know what she should read next. And I add, “what if I suggest a book and you don’t read it? Is there a page where I can express my disappointment? How about if I suggest a book and you don’t like it. Is there a survey where you can question my taste?”

And I get back, “This is all standard Shelfari text, not mine.” And there’s the problem. She signed up without knowing what the program would send out in her name. Now she wants to be not responsible for it. It doesn’t work that way. If you run into me with your car because you haven’t taking a driving lesson, it’s still your fault. And if you crawl into Web 2.0 with its endless networking, relationship marketing, and “personalized” emails, it’s you I’m going to be cranky at when you can’t control what you signed up for.

Even the Web needs responsible users. Be one.

–Quinn McDonald is a writer and creativity coach. She rides a motorcycle and understands how easy it is to get into dangerous situations without wanting to. See her work at QuinnCreative.com (c) 2007 All rights reserved. Trash can image: panasonicyouth.buzznet.com