The first of a three part series on Web 2.0 Technology and its application to business
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“Web 2.0”– the term dates from about 2004, but the power of web 2.0 in its many forms is being felt more and more and the spread of Web 2.0 applications into business is growing rapidly. The most recent example of Web 2.0 power was the election – there have been several assessments already about how Obama beat McCain on the web –with more positive YouTube clips, more Facebook friends, more online donors, etc. It was the first presidential election where the world of Web 2.0 — of Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and Digg — was a significant player.
For the uninitiated, what is Web 2.0? It is a term describing the use of the web technology and web design to enhance creativity, information sharing, and especially collaboration among users. It is about using the Internet creatively, as a platform to foster innovation.
Web 2.0 is thus broad and amorphous in scope and a myriad of specific technologies and approach fall under its umbrella. Listing some of the applications that can be classed as Web 2.0 technology is helpful in understanding it. Web 2.0 technologies include:
Wikis – a collection of web pages designed to enable anyone who accesses it to contribute or modify content, using a simplified markup language. Wikis are often used to create collaborative websites and to power community websites. Wikipedia is a wiki. (Wiki is derived from the Hawaiian term for quick)
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) a syndication format for aggregating updates to blogs and news sites. RSS is a Web feed format used to publish frequently updated works—such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video—in a standard format. An RSS document (which is called a "feed", or "channel") includes full or summarized text, plus metadata such as publishing dates and authorship. The logo for an RSS feed is:
Podcasting- (iPOD broadCAST) -an audio broadcast that has been converted to an MP3 file or other audio file format for playback in a digital music player or computer. Podcasts are mostly verbal - text versus music – with news, discussions, etc. Microsoft SharePoint now has an open source podcasting add-on. Using RSS podcasts are made available to subscribers just like news feeds.
Social-networking sites – read Facebook, MySpace - use software to build online social networks for communities of people who share interests and activities or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others.
Blogs - a website/page, usually maintained by an individual, with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog. Users can share information with teams, the company - helping businesses to drive new viewpoints and harness the wisdom of many.
Collective Intelligence - any software which aggregates the combined user created input of employees and/or customers, partners, and suppliers en masse to create better knowledge and decisions.
Mash-ups—applications that combine content from more than one source to create a new service. Can be user driven.
Tagging— a method of tracking online items that can help you discover related items and help improve searches and expertise location.
Folksonomy - the categorization system that emerges from tagging. Includes social software applications such as social bookmarking or annotating photographs. Web 2.0 because participation is very easy and tagging data is used in new ways to find information. Tag clouds are frequently used to visualize the most used tags.
Next issue: some real examples and how-to business applications
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Sources:
[1] http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/campaign-2008/2008/11/07/in-obama-mccain-race-youtube-became-a-serious-battleground-for-presidential-politics.html?PageNr=1
[2] http://www.itbusinessedge.com/blogs/hdw/?p=3575
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| INTERESTING BITS |
YouTube Election
‘Last year's election was dubbed early on "the YouTube election" by some. By late October, 39 percent of voters had watched some sort of campaign-related video online, according to the Pew Research Center, up from the 24 percent who said in December, before the primaries began, that they had watched political videos. "I think it's fair to say that this is the first election YouTube has played a critical role in helping the president-elect to reach audiences and get people out to vote, says Steve Grove, YouTube's head of news and politics.’ [1]
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Easy Recycling!
‘Dell and Staples have announced a partnership that will enable consumers to drop off any amount of Dell-branded PCs, monitors, keyboards, printers and other accessories at any of the office supply vendor’s 1,500 locations for recycling at no cost! Staples will log the incoming items before shipping them to recycling company Eco International, reports CNET News. Eco International does not export waste to other countries or landfills. The recycler breaks down equipment into parts and resells what works. Parts that are no longer work are shredded and resold to manufacturers to reuse. Both Staples and Dell offer additional recycling programs. Staples recycles cell phones for free and charges $10 per piece of computing equipment. Dell partners with Goodwill Industries and allows customers to ship Dell-branded items to the company for recycling free of charge. [2]
Office Depot also offers recycling options – you can buy boxes for recycle of equipment for about $18/box.
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