It was just about a year ago that I had talked about the emergence of Web 2.0—which I had referred to as the “connectedness, collaboration and the social internet.” A year later, as I look at the landscape, I am even more certain that those themes remain the cornerstone of innovation in Consumer Internet today.
Today the major themes of Web 2.0 continue to be dominated by the following:
Social Networks
Online communities emphasizing the notion of more sharing and connectivity on the Internet, but also with a strong focus on personalization.
The emergence of User generated content becoming a powerful force—both as a “content generator” as well as a “collective wisdom” tool. Tagging, which is the categorization of sites by users using their own keywords, is now widely recognized as a legitimate categorization (“folksonomy” as opposed to the more rigorous “taxonomy”). Yahoo acquired the premier tagging site deli.cio.us recently.
Perhaps the best example of the enormous impact of an online social network is the tremendous popularity of MySpace.com. What started out as a site for sharing “indie” music in the US, soon became a national teen phenomena, with high schoolers building and personalizing their own web pages, inviting friends into their network, sharing and talking about common interests and aspirations and truly demonstrating the power of viral marketing. Today MySpace continues to be a powerful magnet for teenagers, with nearly 40 million users, leading to its purchase last year by News Corp. for $580 Million. This has also exposed a slightly troubling facet of such sites. Teenagers, if left unchecked, are likely to be exposed to some of the seamier aspects of the Internet on these sites.