Web 2.0 101

(First of two parts)

The most exciting thing to have ever occurred in the Internet is what is called by technocratis as "Web 2.0" It was like yesterday when we thought that internet was only for checking and passing around emails; for surfing useful information; for chatting; or buying and selling things and; to manage personal finances which came to be the age of eCommerce until we were introduced to rich media where information became more engaging and easier to digest using highly animated graphics and videos.

The age of rich media experience also ushered in the way we communicate with one another enabling more exciting social interactions through enhanced live services capable of not just text but also voice and video feeds of one's self, thus, making such interactions more intimate and "alive."   

While everyone thought, ten years ago, that the internet was going to be leveraged largely as a commercial or financial tool, but we're wrong -- so very wrong, actually. The need for self-expression was something unexpected and if it was, we never expected it to be this big. Because of this need, the internet has become a natural and most convenient choice for people to share such expressions with other people they interact to, hence, the birth of "self-publishing."

Gone are the days when we just read and do nothing with information. Today, we are able to manipulate contents and to react to them as immediately as they are pub-lished while being able to share our reactions to the content to as many contacts as we please. Not only that, people can now create and push their own information, too, and share the same from within and outside their social circle -- that's how it is now, that is what Web 2.0 is also all about.

Blogs, chat rooms, forums, wikis, Youtube are but just a few of the most popular examples of self-publishing or what is touted as social networks. But the most phe-nomenal of all the social networking sites is Facebook -- and yes, Twitter, too. A student of business asked me this very interesting question. "If internet is now being used primarily for social networking, so what then is the commercial value of the internet now and in the future?"

The commercial value of the internet will always be there. eCommerce, company websites, eBay, online classifieds, news sites, etc. will be here to stay as well. What has changed is how internet has been used nowadays. Companies do not only look at the internet as a marketing tool but also observe the way people use it. Web companies like Google would not have bought Youtube if it only wanted to just sit there and spend hundreds of millions without getting a dime. And so as Facebook, Twitter, Multiply and other social networking sites.

Companies, in a way, leverage on the internet habits of people. When people go to their blogs, Twitter or Facebook, they (companies) follow them. You might have no-ticed lately that you have some friend requests from establishments in your Facebook or from someone unfamiliar that they would like to follow you on Twitter. That's all be-cause they see you and your network as potential leads.

Another commercial value of Web 2.0 is the fact that, companies know that the publishers of personal pages are real people and most often, tell real stories about their experience with a product or service. So what you say in your blog or Facebook could be either be an opportunity or a threat to a company. It is an insight of your preferences, your lifestyle, your behavior and influence as a person. It is the most reliable customer survey that they can get and best of it all, it is free! So to speak, Web 2.0 is a privilege both the publisher and the company enjoy. The former being able to speak freely for or against a product while the latter gets an honest feedback without even asking for it.   (To be continued)

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I am deeply hurt to have lost an aunt and a cousin last month in their battle over diabetes. And recently, an uncle, Tito Antonio "Tony" Teves, who, to our shock, also succumbed to liver cancer yesterday morning. He was not only a good cousin to my dad and his brothers, but also a kind and dear friend to them. It is my fervent wish to be of relief to each of their families, however, choose to offer my prayers instead that in the midst of their great loss and sorrow, they will find comfort on the thought that their Maker has not only called on them to finally wipe out their pain, but to take care of them in His loving and eternal friendship.

Uncle Tony's body lies in state at the Imperial Suite of the Cosmopolitan Funeral Homes in Lahug Cebu City. A mass will be offered in the morning prior to his crema-tion on September 19, 2010.  

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