Only when users and designers collaborate within the Web 2.0 environment, can design directions be attained thru consensus

With an increased focus on user participation, a role of a designer in this user-generated medium should by one of “conversational leader” (Leadbeater 20). The user experienced gain in Web 2.0 is based on a system of reciprocity (Leadbeater 20). Designers should actively engage in establishing values and norms, they should continue to forge pathways to there network of peers, and offer these users access to their resources.

A metaphor I like to use in regards of how user participation in Flickr enriches it's service is, Flickr being a blank canvas in which users become the artists in painting a communal experience. Each new contribution of content, becomes a new colour in the awaiting masterpiece, where their user interactions within Flickr, becomes the force behind a new stroke of the brush on the canvas, melding the colours, creating vibrancy and creating depth. And Flickr says, PAINT ON!