Web 2.0: Why Should You Care?

By now, Web 2.0 is common vocabulary to the masses.  But, what does Web 2.0 mean to a small or medium size business who sells to other businesses?  Why should such businesses care about twenty-somethings with MySpace profiles?

In short, if you ignore Web 2.0 you may regret it.  Your competition probably isn’t ignoring it.  Here’s why you should care.

Web 2.0 properties include Blogs, social networking sites and distribution of content through podcasts.  The two common denominators of a Web 2.0 application are 1) people subscribe to it through an RSS feed, 2) those who use any Web 2.0 application belong to a community around a topic or theme or cause. 
 
There are three basic drivers fueling the growth of Web 2.0 and therefore it should not be ignored by any business. 
1. Technology – the engine behind Web 2.0 applications is RSS, which is driven by XML technology.  RSS feeds allow us to stay current on any Web 2.0 application we choose by subscribing to a feedreeder such as www.google.com/reader, http://www.bloglines.com/ or http://www.feedburner.com/.
2. Broadband proliferation – the availability of Wi-Fi and other forms of high speed Internet access makes it realistic for most of us to stay connected to the Web 2.0 applications we want.
3. Social Culture for Online Communication – (this is a huge factor) the growing population of young professionals who grew up with Instant Messaging and have published profiles on MySpace and Facebook expect to use Web 2.0 products in their workday.  Web 2.0 is the norm for this group and this group is the new wave of our workforce.  This social culture is quickly spreading across age barriers in our online eco system.  And, these people are our employees, customers, vendors, partners and competitors.  In short, they’re everywhere, even in your industry. 

For any business who doesn’t know where to start in Web 2.0, the answer is simple.  Begin by blogging.  Become an active blogger in your industry.  Seek out blogs on relevant industry topics.  Visit these blogs.  Read the comments and contribute your own comments. 

After spending time blogging, you may feel ready to put up a blog of your own.  Begin with an objective and a strategy.  One such strategy (but not the only one) is a blog which allows your employees to post meaningful comments about industry or product issues.  But, it’s very important to learn “blog etiquette.”  As a blogger, your purpose is to engage in conversation, not in self promotion.  Keep this simple cliché in mind when blogging: “it’s better to give than to get.”  If you give information that your community finds useful, interesting, meaningful, etc., your blog will be well attended and the word will spread to others with similar interests. 

Blogging is a good place to dip your toes in the Web 2.0 waters.  Next on your list should be social networking sites…More on that in another post.