If The Users Are In Control Then Let Them Define Web 2.0

The Web 2.0 ideology wars are back, with Lawrence Lessig arguing that YouTube is a “fake sharing” site because you can’t download the videos and Nick Carr telling him he’s full of ideological crap (always entertaining).

As tempting as it is to dive head first into the ideological fray, I’ll limit myself to this question:

If YouTube is so wildly successful, and the users are in control, shouldn’t what they think of YouTube’s service matter more than what Lawrence Lessig thinks (with all due respect)?

Oh well. Ideological purity is overrated anyway.