WEB 2.0 & SOCIAL MEDIA OPTIMIZATION

WEB 2.0

Basics of Web 2.0

Web 2.0 is a term describing the trend in the use of World Wide Web technology and web design that aims to enhance creativity, information sharing, and, most notably, collaboration among users. These concepts have led to the development and evolution of web-based communities and hosted services, such as social-networking sites, wikis, RSS & Blogs.

The term became notable after the first O'Reilly Media Web 2.0 conference in 2004. According to Tim O'Reilly: Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the Internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform.

An overview of Web 2.0 & the products associated with it:

Characteristics of Web 2.0

1. Users can build on the interactive facilities of 'Web 1.0' to provide 'Network as platform' computing, to run software applications entirely through a browser.
   

2. Users can own the data on a Web 2.0 site and exercise control over that data.
   

3. Web 2.0 sites often feature a rich, user-friendly interface based on Ajax, Flex or similar rich media with social networking aspects.
   

4. Rich user experience, user participation, dynamic content, metadata, web standards and scalability.
   

5. Openness, freedom and collective intelligence by way of user participation.

Web 2.0 Technology Overview

Web 2.0 websites include some of the following features/techniques:

Core Competencies of Web 2.0 Companies

Web 2.0 Based Business Models

• Level-0: Applications work offline and online. Examples are MapQuest, Yahoo! Local, and Google Maps
  

• Level-1: Applications operate offline but gain features online. Examples are Writely (now Google Docs & Spreadsheets) and iTunes (because of its music-store portion).
  

• Level-2: Applications can operate offline but gain advantages from going online. Examples are Flickr, which benefits from its shared photo-database and from its community-generated tag database.
  

• Level-3: Applications, deriving their effectiveness from the inter-human connections and from the network effects that Web 2.0 makes possible. Examples are eBay, Craigslist, Wikipedia, del.icio.us, Skype, AdSense.

Type of websites in Web 1.0 & Web 2.0

Social Media

Examples of social media applications

U s e r - G e n e rated content

User generated content refers to various kinds of media content, publicly available, that are produced by end-users. All digital media technologies such as question-answer databases, digital video, blogging, podcasting, mobile phone photography and wikis. Conversational or two-way media is a key characteristic of so-called Web 2.0. Sometimes User Generated Content can constitute only a portion of a website. For example on Amazon.com the majority of content is prepared by administrators, but numerous user reviews of the products being sold are submitted by regular visitors to the site.

Major Websites Based on User Generated Content

Dailymotion Digg eBay Epinions Facebook Flickr Helium.com MySpace Picasa Revver Second Life TripAdvisor TypePad Urban Dictionary Widgetbox Wikipedia WordPress Yelp YouTube

Social Networking

Social Media Optimization

Social media optimization (SMO) is a set of methods for generating publicity through social media, online communities and community websites. SMO methods include adding RSS feeds, adding a "Digg This" button, blogging and incorporating third party community functionalities like Flickr photo slides and galleries or YouTube videos. The focus is on driving traffic from sources other than search engines.

Podcasting

The term podcasting derives its name from Apple's iPod, but we don’t need an ipod or any music player to listen to it. Podcasting is a new type of online media delivery. You publish selected audio files via the internet and allow your users to subscribe via an RSS feed to automatically receive new files. Podcasting involves producing your own audio files (usually in MP3, WMA formats) and then publishing them online. They're then downloaded to subscribers' iPods, cellphones, iTunes directories, or other locations to listen to.

Mashups

Mashups are an exciting genre of interactive Web applications that draw upon content retrieved from external data sources to create entirely new and innovative services. They aggregate and stitch together third-party data. ChicagoCrime.org, One of the first mashups to gain widespread popularity, the Web site mashes crime data from the Chicago Police Department's online database with cartography from Google Maps. Types of Mashups.

Blogging

A blog is basically a journal that is available on the web. Blogs are typically updated daily using software. Postings on a blog are almost always arranged in chronological order with the most recent additions featured most prominantly. Blogs are usually written by one person.

Archives

When we post to the blogs regularly, the most recent post remains at the top. All previous posts are stored in the archive section. Archives are usually arranged in the form of months.

Comments

The blog is not a monologue but a conversation. You can give feedback on almost everything. In the comments section we can add name, email and a link to your own blog & feedback.

Microblogging

Micro-blogging is a form of blogging that allows users to write brief text updates (usually 140 characters) and publish them. These messages can be submitted including text messaging, instant messaging, email, MP3 or the web. The most popular service is Twitter. There are other microblogging sites like Powence, Jaiku & others. The Twitter has become such a popular tool that 100’s of tools are available to track Twitter. Google has also Stepped into Microblogging service with the purchase of Jaiku website.

Conclusion

• Web 2.0 is going to play a major role in the transformation of Internet. The Web 2.0 Companies have already become billion dollar business. Many fortune 500 companies have taken stakes in the Web 2.O companies. Facebook, Twitter, Myspace are some of the Top Web 2.0 Companies.
  

• The Web 2.0 is such a powerful voice now that US presidential debates are done in Youtube, Myspace & others. Web 2.0 applications, based on user contribution and collaboration, network effects and user communities, can only be realized if users actively participate.
  

• Because any Web 2.0 application will be a highly dynamic project, flexibility is the most important criterion when deciding on the technology platform. In order to increase the safety of the investment, scalability should also be carefully considered.
  

• Web 2.0 is a merging of technologies, people, and attitude that has created an important shift in the way we think about and use the Internet.