Web 2.0

The term Web 2.0 is getting thrown around a lot and the multiple confusion over what it is, and what it means to businesses, has made for rough waters. No one wants to be left behind in the new wave of technology. Everyone wants to discover the new “killer app,” but if you don’t really understand the concept, how will you know when you’ve found it?

Very often when you hear the phrase Web 2.0 it is refering to a specific software set. AJAX for writing applications, Myspace and Facebook social networking applications, wiki's such as wikipedia all fall under the Web 2.0 identity. Technology gurus identify Web 2.0 as software and processes that allow portions of a page to be reloaded separately providing for greater interactive capabilities between users and web pages, but this isn't the origin or definition of the term. In spite of the excitement generated by Web 2.0 enthusiasts, and new applications popping up all over, one surprising thing the geniuses in the know agree on, Web 2.0 does not represent new technology.

The issue and possible confusion results from the fact that Web 2.0 was coined originally as a term for a concept. The concept regarded the change in how the general public was using the internet, in the greater dynamic of thought about the web and, both originating with this change and as a consequence of it, the broadened capabilities and functionality of the web. With more people doing more things it was a bigger badder internet thus- Web 2.0. The specific applications and software identified with Web 2.0 are merely those that take advantage of the networking interactive opportunities.

It's true the internet is relatively a very recent development and its full impact is far from realized. Not without merit, it has been pointed out that the first impulse of a new form is to carry over the formats of the old form- photography at first mostly mimicked the efforts of painting, TV mimicked the styles of theater. As the technologies caught on and people began to experiment, each technology found their own territory, fleshed out their own formats, and brought about their own revolutions in human behavior. Web 2.0 refers to that revolution in human behavior in its relationship to the Web, emphasis on human. The technologies paired with the term are in some sense additional options on your TV remote- some are great some you’ll never use, but the reason they are making a splash is because now everyone is using their TV. The current flurry of new applications, this explosion of new “inventions,” will likely fade out leaving the best, the strongest, and the luckiest survivors. Many lack a fundamental or marketable value, meaning, despite the idealistic hopes of those who believe everything should be free, they won’t be supported into a long life. What is important to focus on isn’t the specific applications, but the logic behind their new prolific development, the human incorporation of the internet into our daily lives.

Because this doesn’t represent a new technology, because they are smart enough to recognize a fad, many will dismiss Web 2.0 and its representative software as meaningless. At best, it may be an interesting Anthropological study in the new ways communities form and interact through the internet. For the most part these companies will be missing very little, in brief they are right. However, awareness of truth behind Web 2.0 doesn’t just point out the fad nature of the supposedly new software capability. The overlooked significance of Web 2.0 is in understanding the manner in which the technology is being used and interpreted in a new generation.

Marketing strategies and the real world weight of the Web are the heavy blows of Web 2.0 and the lesser discussed SOA (service oriented architecture). It isn’t so much that you can do more on the web now, but that more people are doing it. More people are spending a greater percentage of their time, in work and play, relying more on information and functions provided by Web services, and even interacting with their communities and creating new communities. A functional web presence is not an extra, a status symbol, or one more advertising market, it is becoming mandatory for business survival. Due to the nature of web surfing and increased relevance of content over capture of motivation, marketing and advertising strategies must be rethought, revolutionized. Rather than looking for the next “killer app,” understanding and exploring the trend of these changes in human behavior, learning to both maximize and target markets in this venue, and placing a higher importance on online customer service skills are what the intelligent businessman will be doing in regards to Web 2.0.