Where is the Web Going?

If posting links was enough to "create content", we could automate a vast increase in content. Of course, that's nonsense.

What creates content, arguably, is posting the links in a useful context (and something as simple as knowing your friend likes these might create the context). I think that value is real (and is reflected in services like Twitter), but there are some stark limits because my time/interest in consuming that kind of content is limited. Services that help me navigate the sea of data to effectively find the pearls of interest will have value. But just providing more ocean to search through is of limited direct interest...

This.

Simply posting something that already exists, be it through a Tweet or a link or what-have-you, does not create anything of value.

However, creating said link with a short description or within the context of a greater article does create value. It's not a huge amount of value, but I know that I, personally, am much more likely to examine a link posted by someone if they explain what it is about and that explanation is both interesting and relevant.

I agree with the characterization of the past but I don't think curating is the answer either. You can't easily distill quality content out of a sea of junk. Much of the best content on the web still comes from traditional editorial organisations like NYT, Economist, etc. Free-for all social content works great for sites like StackExchange but I don't even think Quora, which is kind of like a curator, is going anywhere.

"...I don't think curating is the answer either. You can't easily distill quality content out of a sea of junk."

These two sentiments seem contradictory to me. The fact that it's not easy to filter for quality is what makes curation valuable.

I'm not sure if the dichotomy presented is correct, though. Really, all the old institutions like the ones you state, are in some sense curators. They curate news, fact, analysis, etc. The democratization of content creation and the decoupling of creation and curation means it'll be easier for amateurs to participate without going through the old bureacratic regimes these institutions represent.

I think the more interesting frontier is the digital curation by human/machine teams. You can understand Google and Facebook as curation, too, but they use a combination of human and algorithmic curation (more G than FB), and to me the Tumblrs and Quoras seem like a step back toward more heavily human-curated. I'll be more interested to see more combinations of different people and different algorithms working on different data.

Don't be misled into believing that the web is "going" somewhere merely due to the success of some high profile growth in certain areas.

Where is the web going?

Everywhere.

If you don't believe that the web will become the backbone of human communication and the primary repository of recorded knowledge then you simply aren't paying attention. Facebook and tumblr are interesting sideshows but they are nothing compared to the real growth of the web, which is proceeding slowly but surely in the background largely without fanfair.