Web 2.0 Affects Business Culture

I don’t use many, if any, of the social Web 2.0 tools that are available today. This includes Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, LinkedIn, etc. However, I do frequently visit YouTube for both entertainment and educational purposes. I understand that individuals subscribe to the above mentioned Web 2.0 services as a means to tap into an online social outlet. In this sense, these types of companies provide a useful service in helping people to stay connected in an innovative and effective way. Some of the many services that these companies provide include instant messaging, file sharing, e-mailing, chat rooms, personal profile pages, search functions, etc. With all of this great technology being developed to advance our social networking, I wanted to discover what businesses are doing to incorporate Web 2.0 into their culture.

Web 2.0 companies have become a valuable resource to staying connected to our social circles with friends, family, classmates, etc. But have businesses also adopted the Web 2.0 technology to expand their multimedia power? I searched for online articles about businesses that are using Web 2.0 to enhance their social capabilities to answer this question. I found an interesting article on Newsfactor.com (see below for link to article) that outlines the top three reasons that companies integrate Web 2.0 technology into their business. The top three reasons according to their survey were to 1) build and promote their brand; 2) improve communication and collaboration; and 3) increase consumer engagement. About half of the companies surveyed reported using video, social networking, blogs, and online communities.

As evidenced by these survey results, it is obvious that many companies have already incorporated Web 2.0 technology into their operations. As individuals become more comfortable with integrating the Internet into their lifestyle, I would expect that companies will lean even more on web technology. At this point, I don’t think that people have truly realized the extent of the Web 2.0 technology that has been made available by various businesses. I think that there will be a gradual acceptance as people progress from simply paying bills and checking account balances online, to becoming active members of online communities.

This article proved to be a good example of how the potential of Web 2.0 technology will affect the culture of business in the future.


http://www.newsfactor.com/news/Companies-Becoming-More-Sociable/story.xhtml?story_id=011000QE1FBV