When I first heard the term "Web 2.0" I thought wow, finally a faster Internet. Right. Then I found out that USB 2.0 and Web 2.0 had absolutely nothing in common. ( Yes I know, all you nerds out there are frowning right now) Hmmm... so what is this Web 2.0 then? The term was introduced for the first time in January 1999 by Darcy DiNucci, a consultant on electronic information design.
So what do you do when you want to find out more about something? That's right, you Google it! When typing in the keyword "web 2.0", Google will vomit around 2'490'000'000 (yes that is in billion!) hits. Whow. What to do with so much information? Well, let's be pragmatic and start at the top: Wikipedia. Wikipedia says this about web 2.0. Wikipedia's definition is probably the most commonly used one on the planet. Why is that? Well, Wikipedia is always right... or is it not?
When wikipedia first launched, it was an absolute revolution. An encyclopedia written by everyone, on the internet, for free! Let's have a closer look at the "written by everyone" part. Because this is really the essence of what we are looking at here. Wikipedia was one of the first massively used platforms, where the users were responsible for its content. This created a whole new level of interaction. A new world, a self regulating world. Wikipedia is a perfect example of what Web 2.0 stands for. It is the use of the World Wide Web, not only as a static source for content, but as a platform for interactive behavior. Take the Mass Effect Wiki for example. This is a site in site type Wiki, integrated in Wikia. It is the place for Mass Effect enthusiasts, to share their experiences, their knowledge and their problems with this popular SciFi RPG (Role Play Game).
Now you might ask yourself: what does this have to do with marketing? A lot! It is every marketeers dream. Just imagine all the information the company publishing this game can gather about their customers. They can find out about their preferences, their wishes, their problems, their behavior in general...it's just fantastic! And it is a perfect opportunity to engage your customers too. Let them be part of it. Make them feel that they are a part of it. We will see more about this when I come to Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in one of my following posts.
So Wikis are one good example of what characterizes Web 2.0. But that's not everything by far. Take the vast amount of social media platforms. It's all user generated content over there. And they live of the interaction between the users. The information the users publish during those interactions. A lot of times that information is valuable to someone, mainly companies. So suddenly we have a whole new pool of business models, which basically created itself, it just had to be harvested. And some are doing a pretty good job at it! The main tools we can use to implement user interaction on our platforms, homepages, e-shops, etc. are the following:
Podcasting
Blogging
Tagging
Contributing to RSS
Social bookmarking
Social networking
However, like with almost everything, there are drawbacks. Users are getting more and more scared of their data being misused. More and more people want to be more conservative with their data. That is a trend for sure. And what do we do with trends? We make a business out of them. And tadaa! Here you have a second gen facebook type thing which allows you to keep all your data private (at least they say so). And they offer a special service for brands too. And they don't refrain from spitting into Face...aehm book's face. Check it out for yourself.
I could go on for hours talking about this topic. But everything must come to an end. I have limited myself to Wikis and social media platforms here, but obviously there are many more ways to describe web 2.0. Here you can see the list of the top 100 Web 2.0 sites.
Oh, I think I forgot to mention something important. The crowd thing. Everything's a crowd these days. Crowdfunding, crowdsourcing.. It is said that the crowd is wise. It is wise because many are smarter than just a few. Well in most cases that might be true. I will contain myself from giving you a contrary example. The crowd really is that mass I was mentioning in the beginning. Most of you know the popular site Atizo. A perfect example for a crowdsourcing website. Solve problems, or even better, get them solved by the crowd. For zero, zilch, no money at all... I love it! Every company should love it. And many do. Like Migros, for example.
Cheers! P
So what do you do when you want to find out more about something? That's right, you Google it! When typing in the keyword "web 2.0", Google will vomit around 2'490'000'000 (yes that is in billion!) hits. Whow. What to do with so much information? Well, let's be pragmatic and start at the top: Wikipedia. Wikipedia says this about web 2.0. Wikipedia's definition is probably the most commonly used one on the planet. Why is that? Well, Wikipedia is always right... or is it not?
When wikipedia first launched, it was an absolute revolution. An encyclopedia written by everyone, on the internet, for free! Let's have a closer look at the "written by everyone" part. Because this is really the essence of what we are looking at here. Wikipedia was one of the first massively used platforms, where the users were responsible for its content. This created a whole new level of interaction. A new world, a self regulating world. Wikipedia is a perfect example of what Web 2.0 stands for. It is the use of the World Wide Web, not only as a static source for content, but as a platform for interactive behavior. Take the Mass Effect Wiki for example. This is a site in site type Wiki, integrated in Wikia. It is the place for Mass Effect enthusiasts, to share their experiences, their knowledge and their problems with this popular SciFi RPG (Role Play Game).
Now you might ask yourself: what does this have to do with marketing? A lot! It is every marketeers dream. Just imagine all the information the company publishing this game can gather about their customers. They can find out about their preferences, their wishes, their problems, their behavior in general...it's just fantastic! And it is a perfect opportunity to engage your customers too. Let them be part of it. Make them feel that they are a part of it. We will see more about this when I come to Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in one of my following posts.
So Wikis are one good example of what characterizes Web 2.0. But that's not everything by far. Take the vast amount of social media platforms. It's all user generated content over there. And they live of the interaction between the users. The information the users publish during those interactions. A lot of times that information is valuable to someone, mainly companies. So suddenly we have a whole new pool of business models, which basically created itself, it just had to be harvested. And some are doing a pretty good job at it! The main tools we can use to implement user interaction on our platforms, homepages, e-shops, etc. are the following:
Podcasting
Blogging
Tagging
Contributing to RSS
Social bookmarking
Social networking
However, like with almost everything, there are drawbacks. Users are getting more and more scared of their data being misused. More and more people want to be more conservative with their data. That is a trend for sure. And what do we do with trends? We make a business out of them. And tadaa! Here you have a second gen facebook type thing which allows you to keep all your data private (at least they say so). And they offer a special service for brands too. And they don't refrain from spitting into Face...aehm book's face. Check it out for yourself.
I could go on for hours talking about this topic. But everything must come to an end. I have limited myself to Wikis and social media platforms here, but obviously there are many more ways to describe web 2.0. Here you can see the list of the top 100 Web 2.0 sites.
Oh, I think I forgot to mention something important. The crowd thing. Everything's a crowd these days. Crowdfunding, crowdsourcing.. It is said that the crowd is wise. It is wise because many are smarter than just a few. Well in most cases that might be true. I will contain myself from giving you a contrary example. The crowd really is that mass I was mentioning in the beginning. Most of you know the popular site Atizo. A perfect example for a crowdsourcing website. Solve problems, or even better, get them solved by the crowd. For zero, zilch, no money at all... I love it! Every company should love it. And many do. Like Migros, for example.
Cheers! P
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