Web 2.0 god/goddesses
I was joking with someone the other day that Web 2.0 or social web could be a modern version of the Greek god/goddess system. Before you laugh this off, think about how much we revere certain websites. Granted there’s probably not a 100% consensus on which site equates to which god(dess), here’s my stab at it.
I will address two major points first: I include Google in social web, simply because a) one uses Google search to find something that goes into a blog/post/tweet/etc; b) iGoogle, Google reader; c) Google in many ways has molded so many Web 2.0 sites and in many ways is a Web 2.0 site; d) with Google profiles coming out a few weeks ago, Google could soon be a dominant social site (profiles plus search info = major marketing for someone wanting to market to a social site, also better targeted marketing could come on Google’s social site).
Second, my rationale for choosing: I used a combined system of Web 2.0 website rankings (http://tinyurl.com/ywf5w3) and general knowledge of perceived popularity of said sites. i.e. – certain sites might seem more popular but in fact get less traffic than one would think. I tried not to let my personal interests in particular sites sway my placements. I also tried to choose the most logical god/godess for sites. Finally I had a little fun with some of the sites as you’ll see.
Thus, I give you, my hierarchy of Web 2.0 / Social web sites:
Actual Greek god/goddess hierarchy taken from (http://tinyurl.com/qytps3)
At the top of the hierarchy of the Web 2.0 / social web era sat Google (Zeus), the spiritual father of all websites, and man. His wife was YouTube (Hera), Queen of Heaven and guardian of the Sanctity of marriage. Associated with them as the chief divinities of Heaven were Facebook (Athena), the virgin goddess of wisdom and war, preeminent as a civic goddess; Myspace (Hephaestus), god of fire and the patron of metal workers; Twitter (Apollo), deity of light, poetry, and music, and his sister Wikipedia (Artemis), goddess of wildlife and, later, of the moon; LinkedIn (Ares), god of war, and his consort, Ebay (Aphrodite), goddess of love; Yahoo (Hermes), the divine messenger, later, god of the hearth.
Around these greater gods and goddesses were grouped a host of lesser deities, some of whom enjoyed particular distinction in certain localities. Among them were Flickr (Helios), the sun; Friendster (Selene), the moon (antedating Artemis); the attendants of the Olympians, such as the Graces – LiveJournal, Skype, Mebo, Hi5; the Muses – Bebo, Blip, Pandora; Reddit (Iris), godess of the rainbow; del.ic.ous (Hebe), goddes of youth and cupbearer of the gods; and Flixster (Ganymede), the male counter part of Hebe.
The sea was ruled Digg (Poseidon), the worship of whom was often accompanied by worship of his wife, Technorati (Amphitrite). The chief Chthonic deities were MSN (Hades), ruler of the underworld, and his wife Fox News (Persephone), the daughter of Demeter (NY Times).
Finally there were Woot! (Dionysus), god of the grape and wine; Ning (Gaea), the earth mother; Netflix (Asclepius), the god of healing; and Zillow (Pan), the great Arcadian god of flocks, pastures, and forests.
I would love to hear back from you on your thoughts! As I’m sure there could be lots of good debate about where a site should be placed and who best represents.
