If it's 'Splinternet', is it Broken?

Wow. I opened my eyes and learn today that the wonderful, joyous discovery and education platform we call the Internet is breaking, faltering, splitting. In a fine blog post, Forrester Sr. VP Josh Bernoff calls it 'the Splinternet' and suggests that it's due to new devices and new platform walls. He wrote last week:

"Web marketing has grown since 1995, based on the idea that everything is connected. Click-throughs, ad networks, analytics, search-engine optimization -- it all works because the Web is standardized. Google works because the Web is standardized. Not any more. Each new device has its own ad networks, format, and technology. Each new social site has its login and many hide content from search engines.

We call this new world the Splinternet (with a nod to Doc Searls and Rich Tehrani, who used the term before us with a somewhat different meaning). It will splinter the Web as a unified system. The golden age has lasted 15 years. Like all golden ages, it lasted so long we thought it would last forever. But the end is in sight."

Josh dispenses a bit of advice for this new era we're entering:
- pick your devices carefully
- rethink analytics, links, and measurement
- embrace the new platforms

If you're a Forrester client, you can read the whole report at this link.