@Luke – Good thought – I didn’t even think of wiki’s, however they still don’t quite offer the exchange of value I’m thinking of…but thanks for suggesting that. Wiki’s definitely serve a valuable purpose.

@Vanessa – Great answer! I totally agree with you, and I think their is a lot of wisdom in what you say. To be honest, I almost didn’t write this post, simply because I had a similar thought of: Am I looking for something that the Internet/Blogging itself can’t really provide? But, I reasoned it would be a good thought provoking exercise. Thank you for your comment. :)

@Mike – Where do I begin! First off, thanks for such a complete response. :)

You’re absolutely right, people making money online (or most people) don’t do so at the cost of the readers. Hopefully the majority of the time, it’s actually helping out the user – I totally agree. And because of that I would also consider it worthwhile. I merely considered scenario two to be a “better” use of ones time. Of course, this was strictly my opinion.

Yes, I believe I wasn’t clear on the whole “exchanging of value” or what I considered to be valuable; and quite honestly the more I think about it, I believe my “ideal” value may be more of a physical or spiritual thing rather than technological. I would agree with you, that the internet is primarily a means of exchanging information. However, information provokes thought, and thought leads to action. My hope, was for that action to reflect upon the information received in some form of synchronization between the sharer and the user.

Ah yes, “Backwash”. I had a feeling their might be some confusion here. Of course the term “Backwash” usually has a negative connotation, but I was simply using it as an analogy to signify the return of ones favor after taking part of an article or piece of content. The Backwash, of course, would be something of value to the producer of the content. And hopefully, aid in the continuation and furthering of the initial post. I do admit, it’s a bit confusing and I apologize for not clarifying the term.

I totally agree with you on what happens when everyone has a voice. The readers go where they choose, and attention is given to those that they consider to be valuable. The beauty of the internet. :)

I couldn’t agree more with your last couple paragraphs – beautifully said! I can’t wait to see how the internet progresses, how systems evolve, people change and adapt. I’m super excited! :)

Thanks again Mike for your thoughts!

@Steve – Twitter is a great resource. Especially in tipping off particular articles and spreading buzz. Thanks!

One of the constructs of Twitter that I like is that all my “friends” highlight the information that they find interesting. And because they’re my “friends”, there’s a chance that I might find it interesting; and it usually is something I would never have come across on my own.

I’m not sure I follow what you’re saying about exchanging “value” which isn’t content online. After all first and foremost the internet is a place for information and communicating. Buying and selling goods comes in second. Monetizing things happens, because there is a cost to produce content and keep websites running and because people want to earn a living, etc.

The internet is the medium, blogging is just a form of content. What exactly to you mean by backwash? Too much information for you or I to take in. Well that’s already here, and in many forms from tv/print/online. You have to pick and choose who gets your attention and what will benefit you. That’s just the nature of an information society.

It also seems you’re asking what happens when everyone has a voice? Well, audiences go where they like what they hear or are challenged by what they hear. So some people will gain an audience and others won’t. Some will be able to benefit from their hard work of writing and sharing online, others will either chose not too, or won’t gain an audience large enough to benefit from.

But there isn’t an end game in this. And it isn’t a one to one relationship. People will have many roles in this type of communication. I can write about lots of things and listen to many more. That’s the beauty of empowering lots of people to contribute – there are always more listeners than there are speakers.

So will the internet “get full” or turn in on itself. Not that I see it. There are so many people who aren’t even listening to the conversation yet that to think there are too many voices is out of the question.

Interesting stuff, but I think you have a question which you haven’t quite formulated yet. =)