Web 2.0 is the modernized version of software. I believe that the major innovative feature of this software is it’s design – it is not created by someone and distributed among others for money, but designed and updated by many people, including the users. It never costs money, and accessible for everyone who uses Internet.
I perceive it as a revolutionary innovation not in the technology only, but in the whole culture of creating and distributing information.
The whole history of culture is about democratization or liberalization. The ancient sacred texts evolved to be more accessible to more people, classical music, basing on the folk songs, gradually developed various forms of dialog with the audience, as well as visual art. With time the world culture and arts incorporate and develop the means of co-production, and easy access.
Web 2.0 is the form of democratization of information. I believe it will significantly change our perception of information. As users and customers, we are used to the ready-made informational products and content, but nowadays we are becoming more involved in the process of creation of these products for ourselves. Wikipedia is one of the examples of such modernized product.
Tim O’Relly discusses this subject in his study What is Web 2.0. Among all other aspects and features of Web 2.0, O’Relly describes the new business model. Amazon.com, for instance, sells the same products as Barnesandnobal.com, but became way more successful than this popular in the real life book store. The secret is that, as O’Relly says, “Amazon has made a science of user engagement”. Besides the readers’ reviews Amazon uses customers activity to produce better search results. “While a Barnesandnoble.com search is likely to lead with the company’s own products, or sponsored results, Amazon always leads with “most popular”, a real-time computation based not only on sales but other factors that Amazon insiders call the “flow” around products. With an order of magnitude more user participation, it’s no surprise that Amazon’s sales also outpace competitors”, O’Relly says.
This is also interesting to see how this new informational models will influence marketing and advertising. “The greatest internet success stories don’t advertise their products,” O’Relly says. Users do this job themselves, talking to each other online. Brian Morrissey, digital editor for Adweek, talks about the same trend in his online interview on DoubleClick.
The conclusion O’Relly draws from this analysis is: “Network effects from user contributions are the key to market dominance in the Web 2.0 era.”
As a media, web is live, and this is another crucial feature of Web 2.0. O’Relly describes how RSS and permalinks make the web pages dynamic. Moreover, this is the audience who decides what’s important on the web.
Another O’Relly’s definition of Web 2.0 is “collective intelligence, turning the web into a kind of global brain”, moreover, the products and business models based on Web 2.0 are appearing to be more successful than those of the previous generation.
This way I can conclude that Web 2.0 is the model of our present and the nearest future, and a radically new trend of informational culture.
Tags: e-marketing, Internet, Internet innovation, search, web2.0
October 18, 2009 at 10:07 pm |
It was a very successful model and business venture, commerce into the business mainstream. Business Market
October 19, 2009 at 6:05 am |
Good post. Your writing enlighten me. Thank you.