(Greatly condensed from the original, which you should read in its entirety; all emphasis in original.)
\n\n\n\n" }I like to think about media in terms of questions answered.
\nLike other media (the web) has a question that it answers better than any other. That question is:
\nWhy wasn't I consulted?
\n\u00e2\u0080\u009cWhy wasn't I consulted,\u00e2\u0080\u009d which I abbreviate as WWIC, is the fundamental question of the web. It is the rule from which other rules are derived. Humans have a fundamental need to be consulted, engaged, to exercise their knowledge (and thus power), and no other medium that came before has been able to tap into that as effectively.
\nWWIC is the thing people talk about when they talk about nicer-sounding things like \u00e2\u0080\u009cthe wisdom of crowds\u00e2\u0080\u009d or \u00e2\u0080\u009ccognitive surplus.\u00e2\u0080\u009d It has become the first thing I think about when I think about the web. I start by asking: \u00e2\u0080\u009cHow do we deal with the WWIC problem?\u00e2\u0080\u009d Everything else comes after.
\nThe obvious example of WWIC at work is Wikipedia, created for free by unpaid labor. It tapped into the basic human need to be consulted and never looked back.
\nOnce you see [thumbs-up/thumbs-down icons so that you can rank the comments], a website is complete. You're down to the bedrock. A boolean or integer value is the digital equivalent of a grunt. You can't get any more basic than a like, or a thumbs-up, or a favorite.
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