Web 2.0 -- What the heck is it?

by Michelle Tjelmeland


Facebook. Friendster. Classmates.com. Meetup.com. Orkut…the list goes on and on. With all the different social media sites available these days, it can be overwhelming for a virtual networking newbie to get started. You don’t want to spend a ton of time setting up a profile and inviting people to join your network only to discover you aren’t making the connections you wanted. So, we’ve noted four popular sites that you may have heard about. We suggest that, if you find the premise of these sites interesting, you try them out to see if they’re compatible with your business’ networking goals.

MySpace
As one of the most popular social networking sites today, MySpace is a huge draw to certain groups of people. For musicians, it’s a no-brainer to have a MySpace page. Same for independent artists and amateur filmmakers. But small businesses or non-profit groups? Not so much.

No matter what type of profile you set up, chances are you’ll still be bombarded with requests for matchmaking and dating services. Advertising opportunities are available using banner ads, but they probably won’t do much good unless you are marketing to a younger audience (teens and young adults) and if your product happens to fall in the entertainment industry.

Our take: Unless your company is focused on the arts, hang out at MySpace for entertainment, not business purposes.

YouTube
This site is all about videos, from silly homemade movies to TV show clips to clever independent skits. There are ways for businesses to take advantage of YouTube, however.

When we explored YouTube while researching this piece, we came across a series of clips on how to create simple hairstyles and give certain cuts by a salon owner. Each clip was short—under 5 minutes—and offered bits of digestible, useful information. The segments were preceded by a title page highlighting the salon’s name. Not a bad idea for promoting a business!

Our take: Why not try creating a short informational clip and uploading it? You can then post a link to it on your web site so visitors can learn more about your business. And in the meantime you’ll be offering some valuable and free information, which will be appreciated by your customers. (Kind of like offering a newsletter with informational, helpful content…hmmm….)


LinkedIn
Finally—a site that’s designed specifically for professionals looking to make connections with other professionals! Over 20 million professionals use LinkedIn from all over the world, and more than 150 industries are represented. It’s free to join the site, although for those looking for additional features a paid membership is available. You can use LinkedIn to search for jobs or find potential clients, service providers, and subject experts, all who come with recommendations.

Our take: LinkedIn seems to be highly praised by the professionals who use it …like me. One print production professional has this to say: “I have had great luck finding freelancers. I sent requests for introductions and within a few days I had a few people to discuss opportunities with. I think it is an excellent tool.”

Ryze.com
This site is very similar to LinkedIn, but it’s been known to take on a bit more of an informal, social approach. You can still make business contacts, however. Ryze is smaller than LinkedIn, claiming to have over 250,000 members in 200 countries. And, same as LinkedIn, memberships are free with an option to upgrade to a paid account boasting extra features.

Our take: It’s worth a try…lots of good things are being said about Ryze. If you aren’t satisfied you aren’t out anything except the two minutes it takes to create a profile, especially if you start with the free membership (the wise choice).


So which social networking site is right for you? Only you can make this decision. Go ahead and try different networks and see what works best for your business. Check around and ask colleagues about their experiences, too, asking which sites worked for them, which didn’t, and why. Good luck, and welcome to Web 2.0!


Resources

More on MySpace
Here’s a thorough overview of using MySpace for business. It’s not a very favorable review, but it’s always good to hear varying opinions.
http://www.smallbiztrends.com/2006/05/myspace-not-much-value-to-most-small-businesses.html/

Top o’ the list
Wondering where the social networking sites are? Wikipedia has compiled a list of the forerunners: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_networking_websites

Tangled webs
Still not sure what the term Web 2.0 means? Here’s an explanation by Tim O’Reilly, technology guru.
http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html