Web 2.0: what’s the problem?

web-2-0.gifThe memory of dot.bomb has faded enough now that even the most conservative of executives are under pressure to build a Web 2.0 presence to supplement standard company websites and other established online activities.

No doubt Web 2.0 applications and content types will eventually have a role in supporting all sorts of company activities, from product development to communications.

But currently Web 2.0 is experimental and while lots of people are speculating no one knows what’s going to win out and what will fall by the wayside.

Before jumping in and pouring money and effort into a web hole shouldn’t companies wait until convergence and Web 2.0 applications have stabilized enough to meet investment criteria?

Maybe they should. But the pressure’s on now to jump in and be a first mover, or an early adopter, or at least on time.

Well, it’s both too late and too early.

While convergence and Web 2.0 exist — in-game advertising is established, Wikipedia’s company profiles are being edited daily, blogs and podcasts and mobile content are vying for consumers’ attention — no one can say which of today’s offerings will last into tomorrow and have reasonable revenue streams.

So for companies that want to use the online channel (for whatever reason) beyond their own corporate websites, the task is to choose the best of what’s there now, not be swayed by the hype, and accept that some mistakes will be made. Today’s mistakes will make for better decisions tomorrow.

Learn from mistakes? How do you persuade executives to do that?

Explaining Web 2.0 to executives can be a challenge. The trick is to present all of Web 2.0’s likely development paths, advantages and risks, success measures and possibilities for return on investment…in ten slides or less.

 

Links

Consultancy reports

PR company reports

Web 2.0 explains itself

Usability and web 2.0

Miscellaneous news media about digital and web 2.0

Another link

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 9th, 2007 at 5:45 pm and is filed under Copy, Corporate communications, Effectiveness, Online strategy, Public relations, Web 2.0. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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