Three Observations from Le Web

Earlier this week I attended Le Web in Paris. It was my first time at the conference. Loic and Geraldine Le Meur did an awesome job bringing together a mix of Americans and Europeans for what, as far as I can tell, is the only truly global Internet industry event. Here are my three takeaways coming out of Le Web...

One of the great untold stories is just how much Facebook and Twitter are growing off-site. Facebook announced they reach 60 million through Facebook Connect. Meanwhile nearly half of Twitter's activity takes place away from Twitter.com - they reported. Both platforms are quietly becoming a social operating systems for the web, not just their own sites.

Second, nowadays no two people see the same Internet. This was a key point that Facebook made, saying that we increasingly discover online content not just by algortihms but via the "lens of friends." Microsoft researcher Danah Boyd brought this to life through rich, moving stories. Google's Marissa Mayer went a step further saying that the future of news is a "personalized news stream." This trend has major implications for marketers and PR pros who are accustomed to reaching everyone the same way - it's simply not possible anymore.

Finally there's a ton of energy around the live web. It feels like everyone from Google to governments gets its import. Perhaps Queen Rania of Jordan summed it up best when she said: "real time is the new prime time."

Le Web was a great conference. If you can, I recommend trying to go at least once. Not only was the content good but the networking was too. I got to meet many European startups that are all quietly innovating.

Comments

[Stelios Landrakis]

SteveWill you upload any video from your speech? If not,then will you mention what you spoke about?for us that did not catch le web.thanks

[Steve Rubel]

Sure thing. The video is here -  http://bit.ly/8X7Y58

[Stelios Landrakis]

Thank youLooking forward to one future post of you describing the changes that the social web is bringing to search engine results and to marketersthanks Steve

[Jeff Shuey]

You hit the nail on the head with this one. Succinct and on the money - Social Operating Systems, Lenses, & Real Time. I look forward to watching your video too.

[colin henderson]

The comment that all see different views of online is key. Thanks for sharing that.

[montemagno]

Great content as usual Steve :) Btw I wrote a post about LeWeb by an online follower point of view focusing on the "conversation/communication" side...maybe it has some useful input for your next talks/events http://bit.ly/592GWI

[Harold Cabezas]

Thank you, Steve. Could not agree more. It is amazing how centrally-focused we are here in the US. There is so much going on online worldwide, not to mention in this hemisphere alone, from Canada to Chile/Argentina! Thanks again for this post and hopefully many more with an international flavor to them.....

[Leighton Cooke]

I liked the Jolicloud presentation at LeWeb.

[loic]

thank you Steve, we were glad to have you with us

[online branding blog]

I love the point you've made regarding "nowadays no two people see the same Internet." and hope you'll expand on this thought in the future. Also find "real-time" web one of the more exciting directions the web could go in. Once North America improves its bandwidth issues this will certainly be true, and online video will explode. But I'd also be interested to hear what Le Web might have covered for Mobile.

[felicelam]

Thanks for sharing.