How to use Web 2.0 in Your Business

After reading Reshaping Your Business with Web 2.0, there are some key points that the author makes. For one, it is important to note the differences between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 as the dynamics of usage, consumption patterns, and publishers of information have drastically changed. Those that used Web 1.0 were considered thought leaders, and the mere presence of an online identity trumped the actual content on the site. As an early adopter of the new web-based medium, one was able to control content information and be viewed as experts on a given topic, merely by having an online presence. If it was on the web, it must be true.

But as Web 1.0 began to be adopted by the late majority and laggards, it developed a greater presence and began to manifest across internal organizational developments, allowing businesses to communicate cross-sectionally. Essentially, before the Internet, the work week ended and began as soon as the employee arrived and left. With the advent of the new medium, work and home began to blend as the "speed and efficiency with which information cold be created and published to the World Wide Web" (Casarez, V., Cripe, B., & Weckerle, P.).

The authors also apply Newton's first law to the business model: "Organizations not doing anything in a particular area tend to keep not doing things in that area and if, by chance, they are doing something, they tend to do the same things the same way for as long as they can." If something works, why go outside your comfort zone to try something that may or may not work. The major shift between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 is the culture of the mediums. Web 2.0 is more about social networking and collaborative services between users of the medium, where as Web 1.0 was about establishing a presence. As usership increased, the way the medium was used also saw a shift. The Internet became a community in a "Participatory Marketplace" where the empowerment of users working in the community created a value.

As Social Network Sites (SNS's) continue to grow in membership and usage, businesses must adopt these new practices and technologies. While one is not going to be considered a thought-leader for using the Internet these days, it is crucial to maintain a presence.

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