What's Web 2.0 mean to you?
Beyond "a cringeworthy buzzword," how would you define Web 2.0? What are the defining differences from web 1.0? What opportunities does it present to the marketer who wants to employ it for brand building?
Good Answers (14)
It is really hard to define exactly what Web 2.0 is about, isn’t it? It can be about creating online content or about social applications or about collaboration or about AJAX or about reusing existing services in order to create brand new services. That’s why I call it the bag of unrelated concepts. Just because someone wants to call them Web 2.0 doesn’t suddenly make them related. Web 2.0 is nothing technical, it’s just a marketing spectacle. If anything, we should concentrate on service orientation with Web Services or creating richer Web clients with AJAX (which is another hype generator at the moment) or blogging or using Wikipedia without calling them Web 2.0. They already have names.
* Web 2.0 is about making things simpler.
* It is a step away from a thick client world to a thin client world.
* It is a step away from being techy & geeky to being more universally accessible.
* its about using the web to do things that you used to use your computer to do.
( Gmail, flikr, blogger)
* Its key enabler is widespread availability of broadband.
* The proximate driver of web2.0 is companies trying (still) to figure out how to make money from the web
* The strategic driver is to deliver services via the web to make it more attractive to non-technical people.
This means providing services that are, to the layman
- easy to use (delicious is, GMail is not, Skype is)
- easy to understand (GMail is, delicious is not, Skype is, kinda, RSS is completely incomprehensible)
- COMPELLING FOR NON-TECHIES (Gmail is not, delicious is definitely not, Skype is possibly, RSS may be if it can be integrated more seamlessly)
Gmail, Delicious, digg, blogger, flikr, are all steps in these directions.
Links:
Sean M
Web Services Manager at Corel Corporation
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Are you sure I can't say "cringeworthy buzzword"?
OK, in that case I'd the defining differences are the shift in control. The marketer has to be willing to give it over to the user if they want to make web 2.0 to work for them. It's not about the technology or the platform -- a CEO who has his PR staff write a blog under his name that gets posted every two weeks after running it by legal is not doing web 2.0.
The user are going to control where they see your content (hint: it may not be on your web site), what they say about it, and what if anything they do with it next. If they don't like it, you'll know, and you won't be able to make it go away. But if they do like it, and they trust it, they may end up trusting you, and then you're in business.
Patrick M
Managing Director at BitInsight
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A good link defining Web 2.0 is:
http://www.oreilly.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html.
Web 2.0 as you noted is a buzzword (which can be viewed as negative to some) however it does convey a sense of being current with the uses of web technology and of leveraging the community capabilities of that technology in your online component (if true).
Christopher R
Strategy / Programs for Engaging Customers in Social Network & Web 2.0 Venues
Best Answers in: Internet Marketing (2), Using LinkedIn (2)
Hi Andy,
I have dozens of these conversations per month, and I have found that it boils down to this: Web 1.0 was about pushing enterprise information out from large organizations to end customers (B2C) and subsequently to enterprise customers (B2B) via standardized http. One-way communication. It was revolutionary because people could access information real-time and transact using standardized tools (browsers).
Web 2.0 is about P2P.. people connecting with each other. It is many to many and organization is emergent.. that is, not defined by anyone in particular. It is changing companies' relationships with their customers because their customers are able to create relationships *with each other.* This can be a huge benefit for companies if they know how to engage customers. It is also causing marketers growing indigestion their brand messages can be significantly disrupted by customers.
Here are some URLs that explain in more detail. I hope this helps!
Chris
Links:
Ravindran G
Senior Consultant, Developer Advisory Services at Microsoft Corporation
When Buddha was asked what Enlightenment was about, he gave a negated reply - "absence of suffering". Similarly, Web 2.0 means so many things to so many people it depends on where you stand with it. For a Technologist it might be an array of new programming tools, AJAX, Ruby et al. For a housewife, it might be the ability to share her favorite pics and recipes with her friends and make connections that serve her house-maker intentions. For a business person, it might be the ability to get in touch with people, information and contacts without going through conventional means. For an Enterprise it should be about harnessing collective intelligence and leveraging ROI using productive information sharing tools like blogs, wikis and creating a mini-internet out of its intranet.
That said, Web 2.0 is nothing but an evolution that springs when a critical mass of people begin to do things in a novel manner. The Web is an alive ecosystem that multiplies in intelligence and content every second, and Web 2.0 is a means of harnessing that potential. Just like rain, sunshine and clouds form a rainbow.
Clarification added 11 months ago:
Guess in the excitement of answering the question, I forgot to answer the real part. How does it differ from 1.0? Well, Web 1.0 was about reading and 2.0 is about writing. Opportunities for Marketers? - you can use the power of these new pretty looking, target based, participation enabled technologies to motivate and advertise end users. Web 2.0 enables frank and voluntary feedback, interaction amongst buyers, and a capacity to survey the needs of the end users better. Web 1.0 was about SPAM advertisements, 2.0 is about user generated content.
Increased Usability.
I personally think that Web2.0 boils down to Increased Usability. All of the things that people associate with Web2.0 existed before it was defined (user feedback, making comments, pages,...) but Web2.0 made it usable. The convergence of usability and database driven websites led to Blogs and Wikis, making it easy for anyone to create a site and get their information out there. All of the Ajax widgets, new interface techniques are all done in an effort to increase usability. I think that is the core driver for the Web2.0 "outbreak".
How can you leverage that for your brand? Make sure that your site is simple and usable. One of the great things I see coming from Web2.0 that has huge implications for your brand is community. If you can build a (online) community and leverage their knowledge and experiences you can push your brand to new heights. Don't just employ Web2.0 tools for everything. Really think about where they add value to you, and research what is required to maintain them as nothing will sink you faster than a rouge community, or the discontinuation of community interaction.
Andy,
I honestly think it comes down to a couple main distinctions. Powering the end user with more. Tagging and digging content for example. Product owners would guess or use sometimes internal language to describe a given product. These keywords would be used to index the page and you would hope and pray it was the right word so people can find you. With tags and digs, the Internet community can do this to help other users find things of value using their own words.
Products like You-Tube are also breaking down huge distribution BS. If you want to broadcast a documentary, you can do it. The buzz catches wildfire and you have something. In traditional media, you might not even get in the door to have a kick off meeting to pitch an idea. A little viral marketing and you have your 15 minutes of fame.
Finally, the web is getting more social aspects to it. Instead of being e-Commerce and news sites, now I can create a blog and share personal things about me, interests, and things I feel I can provide value added. I can even comment on what other people do. Sites like Linked In empower me to be more social than limited discussion boards of the 1.0 generation and BBS's before the internet by tapping into things that are more than niche clubs, etc.
Thats my "3" cents.
Randy
If you strip away all the bells and whistles, web 2.0 is a platform for users/communities to facilitate organic web growth by way of sharing/interfacing with each other.
Technically speaking, web 2.0 does not incorporate any new specifications. Web 2.0 is a paradigm shift in the way developers/users view and utilise the existing framework...so I would say that this is a shift in methodology rather than technical specs.
Having said that, web 2.0 is a cyber-revolution as far as brand building is concerned. The primary reason for my statement is that the end-user (i.e. potential customer) decides what he/she wants to see, where he/she wants to see it, in what format and how much he/she wants to contribute to an idea. The flexibility of this platform (or paradigm) is what makes people "want" to contribute.
To the marketer it provides a means of access, feedback, corrections, enhancement and much more from the customer point of view...(much more than your standard "Banners and Carnivals" approach)...
To me, 2.0 is enabling the user by elevating the Web to be a platform instead of an application.
But, since 'O Reilly coined the term, I guess that the only correct definition would be 'O Reilly's.
Very very simply put, Andy... Web 2.0 is, "Power to the People".
Its about harnessing the infinite power of fickle, wired, empowered, infolusty, opinionated and experienced consumers, who are now getting used to 'having it their way', in any way imaginable. Which includes wanting to have direct influence on what companies develop and produce for them.
Implications for brand managers & marketers include leveraging this phenomenon to create goods, services and experiences in close cooperation with experienced and creative consumers, tapping into their intellectual capital, and in exchange giving them a direct say in (and rewarding them for) what actually gets produced, manufactured, developed, designed, serviced, or processed.
Links:
it's great that people are discussing web x.0 topic
there are no wrong answers to your question, Andy. they are web 2.0 themselves :)
therefore you need to go even further - to web 3.0 where "context" could help to bring the brand on the next level.
Web 2.0 represents methodology and patterns in addition to technologies. It preesnts the marketer of Web 2.0 services and technologies to reach communities beyond the expected. Your service, on the web or powered by the web (e.g. Rich Internet Applications on the desktop, sich as Adobe AIR), is your channel. Think of Web 2.0 fulfilling the promise of Web 1.0 (remember dot.com?), and reaching the community (users, developers, IT, etc.) without the boundaries which we are accustomed in the world of Software as artefact (shrink-wrap, enterprise packages).
O'Reilly explains it best by presenting Web 2.0 as the following:
- The web is the platform
- Services, not packaged software, with cost-effective scalability
- Control over unique, hard-to-recreate data sources that get richer as more people use them
- Trusting users as co-developers
- Harnessing collective intelligence
- Leveraging the long tail through customer self-service
- Software above the level of a single device
- Lightweight user interfaces, development models, AND business models
Web 1.0 is the web we all know and love without the above characteristics. Web 1.0 lacks the collaboration, independence, development delivery models mentioned above. What Ofoto is to Web 1.0, Flickr is to Web 2.0. What personal websites are to Web 1.0, blogs are to Web 2.0. And the list goes on.
Links:
Charlton B also suggests this expert on this topic:
Web 1.0 = pushing information without really knowing where, to whom.
Web 2.0 = two-way interaction
1. Dissemination of information targeting the right people, the right places and monitoring the results and fine-tune to improve the model;
2. A new platform for software usage and development (ASP);
3. The phenomena of Mass Collaboration (Open Source & User-generated Content).
Theo D
Senior VP of Technology Industry Group at Market Strategies International, a full-service market research company
Actually I think the way you have posed this question is good example of the answer, Andy. You are using a web platform that has elements of both enterprise collaboration and personal information sharing, and using a professional/social network to answer a business question. I think most of the branding and buzz for Web 2.0 has been around the social networking aspect, but in order for the term to go from buzz to reality it will have to intergrate with commercial activities. From a branding and marketing perspective, however, I think the term is poison - either icky buzz or meaningless to most people. That doesn't mean you can't talk about what it stands for, you just cannot use the term Web 2.0 itself.
More Answers (26)
Gino F
Information Technology and Services Consultant and Contractor
Best Answers in: Customer Service (1)
Andy,
I just bought the book called "Professional Web 2.0 programming" by Eric van der Vlist, Danny Ayers, Erik Bruchez, Joe Fawcett and Alesandro Vernet. ISBN 0470087889. You may find the answer there
Some consider that the most valuable part of the "2.0" is user-generated content. But using the "pull effect" of all the new services available to maximize brand visibility is only part of the game because the full efficience of an orchetrated "buzz" hadly can be predicted. Endorsing existing trends with post-sponsoring or product placement is certainly a good way to exploit this momentary lapse of media modification.
Michael M
Senior Copywriter at MARC USA
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Colorforms.
Rakesh V
Director, Prosares Solutions (prosares.com) - ASP.Net | Sharepoint | Consulting
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To me Web 2.0 signifies democracy on the web!
Web 1.0 expected the audience to be in a passive, receiving mode. Web 2.0 gives them the power to set the agenda, decide relevance & appropriateness of the content...
Rakesh
www.prosares.com
Bertrand L
Sales and Marketing Manager at Public Computing
Best Answers in: Business Development (1)
Take a look at this presentation made by Ed Yourdon, a web 2.0 guru.
Links:
Avi François P
VP Business Development, I-Com Mobile [www.icomobile.com] | MyLink500.com | TopLinked.com | 7,200+ Connections
Web 2.0 is a way of expressing yourself, to the masses...
>> Web 1.0 was about them "defining" you.
>> Web 2.0 is all about you "defining" you.
In no other decade, or time, has it been so easy to just get out there and "impress" someone, all by simply using a cameraphone and the web.
Links:
Kellie M
14 years in user research, bridging the gap between users and product teams
Best Answers in: Interface Design (1), Web Development (1)
Wow--I love everyone's answers on this question (it was one I was going to ask myself!). The interesting thing that a lot of responses mention is user control, user freedom, users making connections among themselves, peer-to-peer, person-to-person.
While that can be great and can be beneficial--I wonder if web 3.0 will be more about better managing and scoping the massive amounts of information and communication that web 2.0 provides.
One caveat: web 2.0 absolutely does not in and of itself mean increased usability or happier users. Like any technology, it's only appropropriate where it adds value and utility.
Looking forward to more answers on this topic!
I would like to answer your questions based on wikipedia definition, as well as my current Web 2.0 recruitment experience.
To me, the difference between Web 2.0 from 1.0 is very similar to Mr. Rollyson's answer earlier.
I began recruiting IT professionals starting 97, and that was the era when everybody was talking about the B2B and e-commerce capability that world wide web will bring. Fast forward to 2007, where you see myspace and facebook as social networking sites. I, for instance, am involved in recruiting for Web 2.0 based social networking site developers for my present client.
The common traits behind these social networking sites are the ability to create profiles, write blogs, leave comments, provide RSS feeds, etc. There are a few other things you will notice about the web 2.0 apps. They are wiki-based, feature rich contents (you will notice a number of companies looking for AJAX programmers), and most importantly, the 2.0 apps are People 2 People.
in short, bringing a desktop-like experience to the web through creative uses of established web technologies
I feel Web 2.0 is more about content which is already there on web. It is more of utilizing that content intelligently. It also means accessing that content in a personalized manner.
Any person able to project this theme in the service/product they offer will be able to market it.
Brand building solely on this might be a difficult job but it will take some time for people to get the feel and advantage of this change. Some might think of it as an infringement to their personal data or the data accessed by them over web.
Andy,
After looking at you question and the collecive answers preseted here, I belive, yet , Web 2.0 is constantly being defined. I think we are living 2.0 and the buzzword is being redfined today in ways that far exceed our imagination.
now , Said that, I belive that thomas freedman in his book "The World Is Flat [Updated and Expanded]: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century " ISBN #: 978-0374292799 .
Explains the phenomena of web 2.0 in a context that shows you that it is an effect that has flatened the world and gives vast amount of examples of what is happening.
good reading.
regards
Omar
Eddy K
copywriter, scenarioschrijver, informatie architect, usability expert en trainer bel 0475 388 776
It's a noble thing to always aim higher, but if you look down you see a lot of people in business and elsewhere who are still thinking at a level of "web 0.5" if you know what I mean... The insiders (the geeks, the freaks, the specialists in general) only widened the gap with those people by creating an enormous hype around 2.0 (some are already talking about 3.0). If we want a real social web for everybody we have to get the 0.5'rs aboard first (instead of creating useless toys à la Twitter)
the convergence of 4 things - people (more and more of them with an Internet connection); broadband; technology (AJAX etc); and last but not least, money
Is the second generation of the internet (web started in the early 90´s) where the dominant trends are "trust, collaboration and sharing". In the Web 2.0 users build and exchange information in very simple ways. Opportunities are a consequence of the increased usage, ie. higher qualified targeted advertising and higher stickyness rate. Brand creation and awareness can benefit highly though fast and effective "word of mouth".
Michael R
IT Risk Management & Security at Kautex Textron and Owner, Impact! Interior Design Solutions
All fantastic answers and some great links I had not read before. Although I am quite familiar with the O'reilly article someone put it so well.. Web 2.0 is constantly evolving, it is the power of the web being controlled by the user, not by the marketer.