In 1897, Teddy Roosevelt, one of my favorite U.S. Presidents, said: “The worst lesson that can be taught to a man is to rely on others and to whine over his sufferings.”

That has certainly proven to be valuable advice for many generations of Americans.  Self reliance has become part of the American value system, and most of us have been taught to “save our complaints for someone who cares”.  Teddy’s advice has endured for so long that most people think of it as common sense, one of the rules of the road for living a happy life.

But funny things are happening in the world of the Web that fundamentally challenge the wisdom of Teddy’s advice.

Just as web publishing and search engine technologies have changed the very nature of information—transforming it from a scarcity to something available in great abundance—we have entered an era in which “help” is increasingly being found in abundance as well.  Armed with 1) massive amounts of available information, 2) search technologies that make that information easily accessible, 3) web communities that bring people together, and 4) collaboration technologies that enable people in those communities to create, share, and mass-produce and edit information, younger generations are finding that Teddy’s so-called “common sense” is beginning to make no sense at all.

Young people today are beginning to wonder why you should do things yourself when you can get help from others to get things done more efficiently and effectively.  They’re wondering why they shouldn’t share their woes and frustrations when there are so many people willing to listen, respond, and help make things better.  Web communities and collaboration technologies have justifiably caused many people—particularly those who have spent most of their lives in a Web-enabled world—to question whether relying on others is really a bad thing after all.

This is just another example of how the Web is fundamentally changing things.

Here at Helpstream, we’ve spent a lot of time figuring out how to enable community building and collaboration as an integral part of the customer service experience—bringing an abundance of help to people when, where, and how they need it.