• by Gary Baker , March 3, 2008

Online marketers take note: the Video Web is dictating a fundamental break from the traditional search we've come to know and swear by. The old paradigm is changing dramatically. In the static page search era, a user would perform a search, then would drill down, and would continue drilling down on a strictly linear path, until hitting on the desired information.

On the Video Web, it's about discovering, browsing and navigating in decidedly organic, non-linear ways.

Some may want to believe that the reason why text search and video search have diverged is because video is inherently more challenging to capture and categorize. But this simply isn't the case. The reality is that there's a new world order, and the old rules don't apply in a time when social media is becoming a more pervasive force in the online landscape.

Social media works more like a real community than any "constructed" community the web may have sought to create up to this point. Why? Because social media mimics the way that we interact when we're offline-it traces the sometimes circular, sometimes nonsensical paths of relationships, follows a few tangents and adds a touch of whimsy for good measure. It doesn't worry about what 2+2 adds up to, but it does care what Fred thought about the latest electronic gizmo being advertised on television.

To that end, online marketers need to remember six things when engaging in this at times unruly, always non-linear world:

1. The social Web isn't conducive to natural search - browsing, happenstance, referrals from friends, etc. shape the social Web: Within the social Web, forcing a user to go from point A to point B in order to reach point C simply won't work. Ensure that your web property offers a myriad of paths to the same places so that users can choose the way that works best for them.

2. Facebook and the social Web are redefining search: This isn't speculation, it's fact. Understand the impact that these technologies will have on your business and you'll be ahead of the curve.

3. Users are defining distribution - in effect, leapfrogging technology and changing the order of things: It used to be that companies could at least control the medium that their products are delivered on, but now it's the users who are determining the format that best suits their needs. If your users start turning your content into RSS-fed blog posts or podcasts, you should follow their lead.

4. Platforms are now based on choice: No longer are there glaring discrepancies between technological platforms-they can all accomplish roughly the same tasks at a reasonable level of performance. Users are choosing their platforms based on criteria important to them -- which can be anything from the fact that a friend recommended it to them to the availability of additional functionality that will further personalize and enrich their experience.

5. Vendors can't determine for users how they'll experience the online medium: You can lead these horses to water, but you can't make them drink, nor can you tell them how they will or should feel about the water. Focus your energies on creating and controlling the quality of your messaging and your product or service offering, not on trying to categorize or reign in the user experience.

6. User control over what they view benefits content providers and advertisers: And guess what? When advertisers and content providers let the user control what they see, when they see it and how they get to it, everyone wins. Users create an experience that suits their needs, and advertisers get their messages in front of receptive audiences.

The message to companies struggling to determine how to interact with the new world order is to relax. Embrace the change and appreciate that change is constant in this new world. And when your users tell you what works best for them, don't be afraid to listen and act.