Read/Write Web has an article called the Social Bookmarking Faceoff. I didn't read it. You don't need to read it either. Why? The statistics speak for themselves:On Friday my blog was on the front page of del.icio.us.

• Took about 100 people bookmarking article for it to make the front page.
• Generated 762 views on the first day, 1566 views from Friday to Tuesday.

On Tuesday I hit the front page of furl.net (#2 behind del.icio.us based on Technorati, #3 behind del.ico.us and StumbleUpon based onAlexa — stats from RWW)

• Took about 10 people bookmarking the article for it to make the front page.
• Generated 21 views.

Conclusion: there's barely room for a number one social bookmarking app, not to mention a number two.

Tim Berners-Lee believes we're in a new Internet bubble, much like the original hype around the Internet and the World Wide Web. Web2.0 is isn't going to wash your car, feed your dog or find your missing sock.Matt Cutts asked his users what their favorite web 2.0 apps are. I hadn't heard of 95% of the results, and I pay attention to this stuff. I even have a Cambrian House t-shirt.

Ryan Carson comes to the shocking conclusion that he only uses around four web apps and decides to question other people in the web2.0 industry — and they don't have the time to use more than three or four either. They're the people making this stuff!

Wired asks who are the web2.0 winners and losers? The winners are the ones who get acquired, the losers are the users who invest their time into a service that goes down the tubes.This is a bubble. Selling your company on E-bay seems to be a viable business plan. Don't bother getting excited about new web2.0 apps. Except for a small handful, they'll be gone in three years. The ones that are already massively popular are here to stay if they don't screw it up, but everyone else jumping on the bandwagon is out of luck unless

• there isn't a major player in that space;
• the product fills an actual need, not a geek'' idea of a need;
  • (I'm a geek and I have a lot of needs that no one else does, just ask my girlfriend)
• they have a real business plan.

The best way to handle this bubble:

• Read anti-2.0 sites like dead2.0 an alternative to the pro-2.0 sites like TechCrunch, rev2.0, Startup Review, Go2Web, TechAddress or one of the many other sites dedicated to start-ups.
  • Aside: apparently anonymous blogging on the Internet is dead (2.0?) and Skeptic of dead2.0 has been outed. Is this for real? Were his real details posted? Is this deadgate1.0? Or is it even news?
• Don't work for a company where your product could be made by a teenager in his[1] parent's basement (unless you are a teenager in your parent's basement — you have a real shot at making something interesting at a low enough cost that you'll make a profit).
• Make fun of it:
  
  • Web 2.0 Bullshit Generator;
  • Web 2.0 Logo Generator;
    • Which seems to be dead. It made fun ironic flickr knock-off logos like the one for wpcatr.
  • Quizzes.

When you're reading all the hype about new companies, keep in mind that most of them aren't going anywhere.

Next week on "As the Internet Turns": I out Joel Spolsky and Robert Scoble.

 [1] I say his because all homegrown software applications are written by teenage boys, not teenage girls. Teenage girls get a webcam and make real money.