The web has traditionally been driven by innovation created through the technological lens. People looked at what was possible from the back-end of computer programming, the internet, and various platforms, and built up from this technological foundation. The next evolution of the web will be driven by top-down innovation created through the human lens. People and companies will study human society and see what is possible from the back-end of psychological and sociological incentives.
Google+ is a great example, actually. Google’s previous social offerings were imagined and built through the technological lens. But Google+ was built by studying how people act and what they want in real world social activity. (To be fair, I think that Google understands this shift in lens and there is a huge PR machine behind trying to convince people that they built Google+ through the human lens). Nonetheless, Google+ isn’t the earliest development in this transition from technological to human-driven innovation, but it’s one of the most significant in weight and scope.
