Well, folks, it's official - the media is in love with us again. Media meaning traditional media, us meaning those crazy web kids. Not that most of us (at least the old schoolers) are kids any more.

It's a strange thing for me to bitch about. If you asked me if I like the web and why, I'll tell you that I think it's the greatest thing since a tall stack o/ pancakes, and for many of the same reasons you hear trumpeted by traditional media when they're in the "love" phase of the "love/hate" relationship: it's (more) democratic. It's (or can be) fueled by passion. It gives everyone a voice. It's a meritocracy. You don't have to be rich or thin or famous to make it online - you just have to be damned good at whatever it is you're doing.

So when someone else seems to like the medium as much as I, why complain?

It's this: when the media takes this tone, it sounds far less than supportive observer or rallying cry, and more like breathless fanboy pulsating joy.

The reality is that there were millions of folks doing exactly the same stuff for years - participating, interacting and creating online - before the words Web 2.0 were ever spoken. IMDB, Amazon reviews, Geocities, Blogger, recipe sites, online discussion forums, and far more.

Time.com and their ilk know this, of course - it's what they wrote about back in the late 90's. For example. With the same degree of pulsating joy.

What they seem to have forgotten: this is not new. This is a new spin (barely) on an old idea, or more accurately, it's a natural growth and development of something that already exists - an evolution, if you will, just like everything else evolves and changes over time.

Somebody once said that those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it. You betcha.

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