A user-generated content site is…well, the one you're using now. A website where the users generate the content by contributing writing, artwork, and discussions. Ugc sites, as they're called, can range from the non-commercial and humongous – such as that encyclopedia we use every day but won't mention, that the teachers won't let the kids quote from – to thoroughly monetised venues such as the IMDb, which allows movie buffs to write their own reviews. User-generated sites are part of the democratization of information – of the user, by the user, for the user. They are fun, creative, and challenge us to contribute, comment on, and edit content. No downside, right?

The question is, are user-generated content sites like h2g2 becoming obsolete? Has everybody learned what they want to know already? (Have you?) More sinisterly, are commercial interests poised to crowd out the free-wheeling ugc site in favour of purposeful consumer-oriented content? Are we going to be forced back into the 'buy, buy, buy' mode of information transfer?

Increasing reliance on mobile devices rather than computers could mean that users look for their content, not to browsers, but to apps, thus bypassing the good old World Wide Web. Cable and satellite television services have already niche-marketed us in terms of television use. Will our information providers soon be doing the same? Will non-commercial websites become the ghost towns of the internet?

User-generated content sites of the 'consumer review' variety are growing. Sales of ugc sites involving videos, music, and other commercial products can involve megabucks. Is there still room for the site that shares non-commercial information – such as where to go for a quiet walk, and what to think about when you get there?

This week, we'd like to ask you:

• What attracts you to ugc sites? What motivates you to contribute content?
• What do you think is the value of the ugc site in the 21st Century?
• Do you think overcommercialisation is a threat to the freedom of information?
• What signs do you see that the way people use information worldwide is changing?
• What strategies do you think h2g2 and other ugc sites could be using to defend the value of their brand of information?