Posts Tagged ‘web 2.0’

-

Video by Dr. Michael Wesch - Kansas State University.

The Web 2.0 machine may be using us, are you using it?

Graham has been talking a lot about Social networks lately, and I can see why - it’s a massive part of the Internet’s appeal and a natural extension to how we enjoy interacting in the real world (well, that and the fact that Graham generally has a lot to say anyway). However, what is a Social Network?.

A social network is a collection of individuals who are, in some way, connected to one another. This connection usually takes the form of a current or past friendship, but can also take the form of a shared interest, shared vision, sexual preferences or anything else you care to imagine. The key component to a social network are these connections:

• Any individual can be connected to any number of other individuals,
• New connections can be found easily through existing connections,
• Your connections’ connections (?) can be easily seen.

The concept of Social Networks has been around for a long time, but the Internet has provided us with many powerful tools to connect networks and people far more easily than was ever possible before. The power of a social network is in allowing people to connect very, very easily, and then allowing those people to benefit from their network very, very easily (perhaps by introducing them to new friends, finding potential business opportunities or by finding new people to share and discuss your interests with).

These guys have done a great job of explaining social networks very clearly, it’s worth a quick look.

There are a huge number of social networks which have become very popular for connecting people. Some networks exist to connect people through friendship, other networks connect people through a niche, shared interest. some of the most popular networks are:

• Facebook
• Linkedin
• MySpace
• Bebo
• Twitter

(We’ll be taking a look at these sites in more detail soon. Promise.)

Now, you know where people are hanging out, who they are talking with and what they enjoy talking about. What would you like to talk to them about?

RSS stands for really simple syndication. So, you know that RSS is all about syndication, and that it is simple - really simple - but what does it mean to you and your business, and more importantly: why should you or your business care?

RSS is a format for delivering regularly changing web content¹ directly to those people who want it. Web content could be your company’s latest news, blog posts or your new product range - whatever content your customers may be interested in hearing about. RSS feeds allow web users to automate the task of checking their favourite websites for updates - the updates are delivered straight to them. (for more on how feeds work and how you can use them, the BBC has a great section on it here)

More important than the technology is what it can mean to your business; you can deliver news and information quickly (in seconds), cheaply (for free) and easily (the click of a mouse) to those who want to hear what you have to say. RSS feeds are allowing people to control exactly what they read and when they read it. If your customers want to hear from you, how are you helping them?

RSS allows you to reach hundreds/thousands/millions of your customers in seconds, and not just any customers, but fully qualified ‘I’ve signed up to your RSS feed to learn more about what you have to say‘-type customers. And they’re your favourite type. (right?)

In a future post I’ll look at how you can use RSS as an effective communication tool (and point out some companies who are already benefiting from it). If you would like to read more about RSS feeds and other web technologies that can help your business why not subscribe to our RSS feed? you’ll find our feed to the right of this post (click that pretty orange button), and you’ll find a list of RSS readers here.

¹ WhatisRSS.com