From Monologue to Dialogue: What’s all the fuss about Web 2.0?

published 2006

Buzzwords come along frequently and this is one that you have probably heard but perhaps have not fully understood: Web 2.0.  It sounds like a software application but it is in fact a new way of on-line life and it is impacting on the marketing field.   But what is it,? How did it develop?  And what are some of its key elements?

What is it?

Wikipedia calls it:

A shift from web sites created as isolated information silos to ‘market conversations’ where web content is developed by web users with open communications, decentralized authority and the complete freedom to share and reuse the information…

When was the term coined?

The term was believed to have been coined in 2004 when Dale Dougherty, O’Reilly Media Vice President used the term Web 2.0 to describe a new set of technologies and applications.

What is the difference between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0?

Web 1.0 was essentially about commerce whereas web 2.0 is all about people or communities.

Web 1.0 was one-way and static whereas Web 2.0 is about two-way communication and collaboration.  Web 2.0 relies on Consumer Generated Content (CGC).

How did Web 2.0 start?

Essentially web 2.0 arose because the web developed to the point where it was easy for users to contribute content, share it, and then let other users easily change it and enhance it.

In the beginning, the web was almost entirely one-way.  Web sites and the public lacked the skills to really utilise the web.  The web has also changed dramatically over the years with many improvements ranging from broadband (stat Australians on broadband) to the rise of a variety of different application platforms.

Discussion forums and bulletin boards held the key to how the web could change - the interaction later of Napster - the peer-to peer file swapping service for music - indicated a further desire for the Web to be a medium that would facilitate ‘sharing’.

The penetration of broadband access, the increasing number of attempts to make CGC a reality and the ways in which people were starting to take ‘social’ control of web development out of the hands of the technocrats, all set the scene for Web 2.0.

What is the impact of Web 2.0 on Marketing?

The key to Web 2.0 is it interactivity. Marketing campaigns now rely on getting to know your consumer even more intimately.  The interactivity enables ongoing conversations with your consumer and allows you to customise your products and services and therefore your messages to them.

Web 2.0 marketing relies on authenticity.  Companies would be foolish in Web 2.0 to hoodwink in any capacity the Web 2.0 audience.  Consumers now have the ability to blog about a product, service or company and distribute the material widely… and not all of it will be pleasant. 

On a process level some of the more obvious technology changes are the ways in which we present the material to the consumers.  From print material to the web, from direct mail to RSS and from focus groups to blog seeding, the elements are the same but the application is very different.

According to researcher eMarketer, by 2010 US companies will spend an estimated $2.35 billion on social networking sites.  Social media has a bright future and there are immense possibilities for the savvy pr professional and marketer wanting to create strong brand loyalty and enable constant communication with audiences.

What are some of the key elements of Web 2.0 ?

There are too many elements to cover in an article such as this.  We will however deal with those listed below in coming issues of PR Influences

• Blogs   
• Social Media
• Flickr
• Wikis
• Social Networking
• Tagging
• Digg
• Del.icio.us
• RSS
• Mashup