No one likes losing control.

Hence the backlash to Google’s new Sidewiki product. Sidewiki is described as follows:

Google Sidewiki is a browser sidebar that lets you contribute and read information alongside any web page.

Sounds familiar? Well there are several sites out there which allow you to “annotate the web” such as Diigo. You may recall 10 years ago the nasty backlash over ThirdVoice due to spamming problems with their service. This, and other concerns have the web’s experts up in arms.

Here are some choice reactions from folks on the web:

Dave Winer writes:

Anyway, the web is all an illusion created out of 1s and 0s traveling over wires and air waves. You can reduce it down to any level you like, and at some level anything will seem unobjectionable. Yet we do have rules that allow us to get along with each other.

Phil, how would you feel if my router, through which your words pass, changed your words to something I liked better? Or added a message for one of your competitors? Or pictures of horrible things being done to innocent people? It’s my router. Don’t tread on me.

You might say — well then I won’t pass my words through your router. And then you would understand how I feel about what Google is doing. I wouldn’t mind it at all if it were opt-in for the author.

Robert Scoble posts on Twitter:

@ChrisSaad you don’t get the problem with Google’s Sidewiki: it’s not that I can’t see the content. It’s that I don’t control it.

Leo Laporte seems bit more optimistic on FriendFeed:

At least there’s an API so services like Disqus and Echo can – in theory – fold the sidewiki back into the comments. I’ve been very happy with Echo’s ability to gather all the activity about a blog post back into the comments. The Third Voice is going to happen thanks to sites like this and Twitter whether we like it or not. We just need to be able to capture and save the content.

Jeremiah Owyang believes it’s time to rethink our mindsets. He believes corporate websites now belong to the customer and companies should adapt:

Shift your thinking: recognize that you don’t own your corporate website –your customers do. Accept the mindshift that your job is to not only serve up product and corporate content but to also be a platform and enabler for customers to discuss, share, and make suggestions to how you should improve what you offer.

All are interesting perspectives on this topic, and it shows how big of a deal this new product is. What does Bwana think?

Well, I believe there are two basic perspectives:

• From a user perspective, it’s an easy way to leave feedback on any website.
• From a content provider’s perspective, it’s yet another feedback loop that needs to be maintained.

As Robert Scoble stated, he wants more control over the comments left in Sidewiki. Google does provide a “Report abuse” link for every comment, but who knows how efficient it is? It’s a valid concern. Many of us are content providers and tend to see it from this angle first and foremost.

We think: SPAM.

If Google’s Gmail spam magic is ported to this somehow, then maybe we’ll be able to maintain our feedback loops effectively. If things get out of control, Google will likely be forced to shut the whole thing down. As Leo Laporte stated, the API provided may make things manageable and easy to utilize as developers create plugins and widgets. If companies like Backtype utilize the API and aggregate comments, then I think it’ll make content providers a little happier. Time will tell.

End users, however, have an effective way of leaving feedback globally. No need to worry about commenting engines, accounts and the like. If you’re a part of the Google universe (i.e. utilizing Google profiles) then it fits right in since your SideWiki comments are aggregated there complete with an RSS feed. (See mine here) I’ve played with it for a few hours and I can already see the convenience (other than the Google Toolbar requirement, but a workaround is here)

I’m going to keep using Google Sidewiki for a few more days and see how things go. As for the content on my site, maybe I’ll get a sense of how well Google’s abuse features work if someone were to abuse it. Leave your comments in Sidewiki for this post if you like, or go old school and comment below.

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