There a not many laws on the web. But there is that one rules.
On the web if something can or should happen in favour of the user - it will happen, no matter how, as a company, you want it to prevent.
For years portal tried to convince us that the web should be closed and kept behind a login and a password. For years, news could be only read on those sites who were publishing it. For years, social networks were keeping profile private by default, For years content sites would try to artificially force page views with useless clicks and a terrible reading experience (some still do). I could go on and on and on. The list is endless.
Over time and as the web is becoming and will become the #1 media in a few years, users have savvier usage and higher expectations that many times conflict with the terms and services, the ergonomy and navigation of a web service. I have seen that with Instant Messenger where until a few years web access was a side feature and is becoming now the main driver of growth (see services like Meebo and eBuddy becoming bigger than ICQ) because users are now more mobile and have access to multiple computers and accounts.
The web is getting more sophisticated every day. Usage Too. The cost of fixing something and making it better (meaning more user friendly) is close to zero. If something is not done right, users will let you know and if they don't, someone will figure out a way to provide a solution. And if this feature is key it could lead to a new competing service that will eventually win.
If something needs to happen on the web because it's right for the user, it will happen. Someone will figure out a way and users will adopt it
IM is going web based, Webmails are offering now much more storage than ever, (for so long limited to 500 MB), Page refresh is going away, Voice is now free, Watching movies (Hulu..) and listening to music (pandora, last.fm) is now Free (and legal), social networks are opening themself (Facebook connect, Twitter, ...), News get syndicated and distributed (Rss, Agregators, Digg,...) without registration and without forcing users anymore to browse useless ad-supported pages....
If something can be free and can be distributed it will be. Someone will always find a smart way to do that
If something key is missing in the user experience and the service fails in providing it (fast enough), then someone will and at some point the attention switch happens and traffic migrates.
Twitter has yesterday committed a big mistake by announcing they would cancel an option in the service - not a critical one. Users reacted in mass, not because they were all using this feature, but because it was not explained and introduced right and they felt something was broken in the relation. You don't decide for your users. They are stronger than you. They decide for you. You serve them. Even if you can have the impression of the opposite.
If something is right for users, it will happen. Either because you will provide/fix it. Or because someone else will. But then you might loose something.
This is why it is always key to ask yourself before you add/take off a feature: is that right for my users? Do you give enough power back to people - which is/was what this all web 2 thing was all about (yes giving back power..). If you keep it too much for yourself then it means you re doing something wrong.
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