My new book project has the provisional title The New Web: Knowledge Sharing as a Part of Everyday Life. The book is my attempt to explain what makes Web 2.0 sites successful, but more importantly what will make them significant for our culture and our economy.

My argument is that the best Web 2.0 sites have stumbled upon a set of capabilities that solve a big problem: how to share knowledge. Sharing knowledge is not something that businesses are good at, not something that governments are great at (see CIA), and, sadly, not even something that my beloved universities are great at, even though that’s supposed to be our raison d’être. The best Web 2.0 sites have made knowledge sharing so cheap, easy, and effective that it can be a part of everyday life. As time goes on, we will come to expect free access to the best available knowledge about anything. And that will change things in interesting ways.

My current five page outline (alpha release 1) is available here. As the project firms up over the next few months, I will be blogging various parts of the argument, case studies, and data that might be interesting on their own.

I am happy to take requests from potential collaborators, publishers, and agents. An extended 26-page outline is available on request.