Augmented World

Some people are up in arms over Google’s release of their Sidewiki plugin for browsers. Their concerns about Sidewiki are:

1. Creating yet another outlet for brands to monitor
2. Further fragmenting conversation
3. Overwhelming potential for spam

And that’s just to name a few.

I don’t deny that these are issues that Sidewiki will have to deal with, but I see this as just another inevitable phase in the evolution of the web and the world, with life continuing to become more and connected and more social. (Social business design anyone?)

Let’s look at Google’s explaination of Sidewiki:

“Sidewiki enables users who have installed Google Toolbar to contribute information alongside any page on the web, inside of a simple sidebar UI. This information, which can include text entries, links, and embedded videos, will be ranked by quality and community ratings. For instance, on a site about a specific beach town, a user could add a relevant YouTube video showing local attractions. Once users opt in to the feature, they’ll be able to view annotations contributed by other users within a browser sidebar, and can choose to hide the sidebar at any time. Google Sidewiki also won’t change the appearance of any web page – all Sidewiki entries will be displayed only in the sidebar.”

The game changer here is that Side Wiki gives users the ability a comment or add more information to any page on the web. It allows comments to go where no comments have gone before. While some may see this as Google unleashing a tool that can’t be controlled in place, I think we should be grateful that Google has started experimenting in this space before other, possibly less accountable, companies have a chance to gain significant ground.

Something else to note: Sidewiki requires that users have a Google account before they comment. This ensures the users identity. And with the introduction of Google profiles, identities can potentially be extended even further by giving the contributor a point of reference to everyone else. This doesn’t eliminate the potential for spam, but I would think lessens that potential.

Augmented Reality: Sidewiki for the World

If you’re having some trouble swallowing Google Sidewiki, then you’re in for a rough ride. This is just a glimpse of how the world will continue to become more connected and more social.

Now imagine that consumers are given the ability to comment on every aspect of your organization — everything — the bathrooms, the waiting area, the parking lot, and even the performance of employees. And the comments wouldn’t be on some obscure site, they would be right next to the item or desk of the person being discussed.

If the things happening with mobile augmented reality are any indication, this scenario isn’t far from being a reality. Just look at what Yelp has done with their iphone app. The app contains an augmented reality component that provides users with an overlaid view of how far away a business is, user reviews and ratings, all in real-time within walking distance of the company. It’s a good demonstration of how a brand’s ability to control and manage is further slipping away.

You can probably see how this could evolve into the situation that I described above, where every choice that a company makes becomes a whiteboard for comments that all can see.

What if my friends that work at the Dell office in Oklahoma City were able to leave comments on what floor has the best vending machine, or what people to avoid in the company. Better yet what if another one of my friends, who was laid off from Dell a few years ago, was able to comment in the same way? He might have some very revealing things to say.

Learn to Adapt

The point I’m trying to make here is that things are going to continue to change. Walls will be broken down. The internet is going to evolve in ways that will continue to make us feel like we are losing control of our brands.

We can’t fight it. Our only choice is to continue to adapt and stay connected to the ways that consumers are communicating, no matter where that may be, or how hard that is to swallow.