What is the Web
Printed in the March/April 2000 issue of the IEEE Professional Communication Society Newsletter. By Elizabeth Weise Moeller
I was all set to write a column covering some web usability issues when I found myself in the midst of an interesting and ongoing discussion with a colleague. So, the web usability issues will have to wait until the next PCS Newsletter because I believe this discussion is something that needs a wider audience.
I was doing some research on the Web and found a transcript of a presentation Tim Berners-Lee gave while accepting a Distinguished Fellowship of the British Computer Society. In this 1996 presentation (http://www.bcs.org.uk/news/timbl.htm), Berners-Lee talks about his vision of the World Wide Web as he started to create the basis for it. His original goal was to facilitate a shared workspace and interactivity and to create a universally accessible place to store information. In this same presentation he acknowledges that the state of the Web in mid-1996 was "pretty much a corporate broadcast medium."
But what about all of the web sites that are not commercially oriented? What about the educational sites? The non-profit organization sites? Personal sites? Can we argue that they are marketing products or services as well? When viewed through the eyes of a marketing professional, we can. The home page of a university web site addresses two distinct audiences: those who are already students (or parents of students) at the university and those who might like to attend the university. In this case, the web site serves two distinct purposes: providing information for students and marketing the university to prospective students. Similar uses can be found at sites for non-profit organizations. The product they are marketing is themselves. Their web sites are designed to provide information to their members and prospective members. Non-profits are always looking for new people to join their organization and help support their cause.
Personal sites, however, are quite different. They run the gamut from showing pictures of a new baby to fan-club sites for a favorite celebrity to expressing their personal beliefs in a forum accessible to many. Is this marketing communication? My answer is no. While owners of these web sites are still communicating information, they are definitely not marketing anything.
Where are we going? This is a huge question. If we look back at Berners-Lee's original intent-an interactive workspace where people can collaborate and access information from wherever they may be-we can start to chart a course. The first step is defining, in the minds of web site developers and visitors, the use of the web. We are making progress. Remember back to the early years of the Web-when web sites looked like all the really bad newsletters we saw when desktop publishing became affordable? We've made strides and web site developers now recognize the importance of a good design and interactive features. A great example of collaborative interactivity is Land's End "Shop with a Friend" feature (http://www.landsend.com). Admittedly, it is a marketing tool, but it works well for its intended purpose.
We are also starting to come out of the "cool toys" phase. Remember when web sites were defined by how many animated files, Java applets, JavaScript toys, and background music they had? The novelty is definitely wearing off. Visitors to a web site want content and useful toys. The cool toys were nice the first time around, now they want information. The question is what type of information and how is that information projected.
Experience with my clients indicates that they want to provide information their customers will find useful. At the beginning of each web site project, we sit down and discuss what they want to accomplish with their web site. For most, the final goal is increased sales. For many, goals include answering many of the basic questions they receive online, providing technical support for their products, keeping their information timely, and providing ways for customers to reach them when they are not in the office or store.
Is this marketing communication? Some of it is, some of it is not, all of it is how you perceive it. Is the Web living up to the goals of Tim Berners-Lee? Is the Web living up to what you feel it should be? What do you think about this topic? We have set up a bulletin board on the PCS web site to discuss issues like these. The address is http://www.ieeepcs.org/discussion.html . You are free to weigh in on this topic as well as start any other discussions related to the work we do as professional communicators. If there is enough interest in this area, I will consider a follow-up column for an issue this spring or summer.
© 2000 Interactive Media Consulting, LLC
