Web 2.0, which includes social networking applications like blogs, podcasts, instant messaging (IS) and really simple syndication (RSS), is the next wave in communications technologies.
Social networking encourages a collaborative style of communication, which will change the way we do business.
Speaking at a recent conference hosted by the University of Pretoria's Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS), chief executive of NowPublic.com, Leonard Brody said, "Whereas Web 1.0 was about broadband and moving eyeballs on to the Internet, Web 2.0 is about the two-way Web facilitating interaction between people with similar interests."
Although Web 2.0 suggests a new version of the World Wide Web, it does not refer to an update to the Web's technical specifications. Web 2.0 refers to a perceived second generation of web-based communities and hosted services aimed at facilitating collaboration and information sharing between users.
"Virtual communities will become more important than real communities in the lives of individuals," Brody said.
Globally, there are approximately 1,1 billion Internet, 2,5 billion cellular phone, 580 million instant messaging (IM) and 300 million social networking users.
The next battleground for attracting consumers is emerging in the form of user generated content (USG), which is any content social networking site users produce and freely share with other users.
However, these "social media pose fundamental challenges for companies and brands accustomed to closely stage-managing their brands," said CEO of TheMarketingsite.com, Luisa Mazinter.
The balance of power has truly shifted to the consumer. This means "the future of marketing products and services is moving beyond businesses' control," Mazinter said.
"The world of Web 2.0 is a world in which the former audience decides what is important."
Socially networked consumers are not passive participants in the consumption process. "Consumers increasingly use the Internet to share information. They also base their purchasing decisions on other people's product reviews and blogs," Mazinter explained.
The new Web lets us create value by speaking up. It is easy for consumers to uncover unbiased, independent information about companies, products and brands. It is just as easy for consumers to post their own highly biased opinions about the same companies, products or brands.
"RSS is a way of gathering content from various sources across the web, including newspapers, magazines and blogs, and broadcasting it to a worldwide audience," Mazinter said. "It delivers news and content directly to you, in real time, under your full control."
Web publishers use RSS to create and distribute information. Yahoo! News, for example, offers dozens of RSS feeds in topics that run the gamut from sports to obituaries.
RSS feeds are not just limited to the written word. They also distribute video.
One-to-many communication has evolved from company memos and broadcast email to social network sites, blogs and RSS feeds. Mazinter said, "RSS is the ultimate permission marketing tool, and is the next tool beyond e-mail marketing."
Everything is news
Some experts say instant communication technology is leaching power away from the traditional media and broadcasting information providers and handing it to a new democracy of communicators.
"Camera phones and other technology, enabling anyone to find news, challenge the monopoly of traditional media," said Brody. "We are moving very quickly into an era where everything is being recorded. This means blogging and citizen journalism will become enormously powerful."
Brody said, "We are entering an era in which individuals work and socialise differently. The concept of using ordinary citizens to report on breaking news around the world is the future of news gathering."
Generation Xers have one foot in the old world and one foot in the new world. They read newspapers. But Generation Yers have both feet in the new world. They don't read newspapers. They don't even use phones. They use instant messaging.
"This phenomenon, which will not be restricted to the developed world, will have a huge impact on business," said Brody. Since online communities proliferate through mobile handsets, adoption, on a pro rata basis, will be faster in the developing world than in the developed world.
Mazinter said, "The future of marketing is about having conversations with customers." Mobile is the next wave of the Internet. It is a totally personal medium, which is always on, always carried and has a built-in mobile payment mechanism.
3G - a third-generation of wireless technology, which allows for the faster download of voice and non-voice data - "has gone from emergent to pervasive in 24 months," said MD of World Wide Worx Arthur Goldstuck.
"As an emerging technology, 3G received only a 22% importance rating in 2005. This figure increased to 73% in 2006," he said.
"Web 2.0 represents the culmination of the promise held by the Internet for the first decade of its commercial life: a level playing field for innovation."
Goldstuck said, "Blogs, along with applications like Facebook, are entry points for individuals engaging with the Web 2.0 community. They are the first barometer of collaboration in marketing, branding and innovation by individuals on the Internet."
Mazinter said, "The marketing rules have changed. Marketers need to craft experiences for every consumer touch-point through:
* Multi-channel management to co-ordinate customer channels.
* Outgoing contact management to pro-actively make communication meaningful, relevant and welcome.
* A single customer view to break down divides in data and departments.
* Targeted marketing to achieve greater results and returns from less communication.
Goldstuck said in the emerging broadband world, there are four Web 2.0 beginner rules:
* Be aware - someone's job must be to track the trackers.
* Be responsive - someone's job must be to respond.
* Position yourself - your job is to be out there.
* Engage before you get engaged.