Web 2.0

A new online multi-player game has been launched by the Future Institute in Menlo Park (Silicon Valley) called SuperStruct:

….the world’s first massively multiplayer forecasting game. By playing the game, you’ll help us chronicle the world of 2019–and imagine how we might solve the problems we’ll face. Because this is about more than just envisioning the future. It’s about making the future, inventing new ways to organize the human race and augment our collective human potential.

By getting involved in a massive social networking experiment through blogs, forums, videos, wikis and other Web 2.0 tools, the games aims to get you involved in the chronicling and shaping of the world of 2019.  game starts with a doomsday premise:

The Global Extinction Awareness System, a supercomputer that accurately predicted the extinction of red squirrels several years ago, has run the numbers for our own species through the computer, and our odds of survival aren’t good. According to GEAS, Homo sapiens may go extinct by the year 2042.

According to Discover magazine this isn’t just a chance for gamers to flirt with the dark edge of disaster; they’ll also be participating in a cutting-edge experiment that tries to harness the wisdom of crowds for a higher purpose. Superstruct is what the Future institute calls the world’s first “massively multiplayer forecasting game.” The Institute for the Future doesn’t like to put it this way, but it’s essentially trying to use crowdsourcing to predict the future….visit SuperStruct.

Brewster Kahle: A digital library, free to the world

This great video from TED shows Brewster Kahle, inventor and librarian, talking about his universal free library for everything ever written, filmed or recorded….yes, utopian open ideas can still exist in today’s consumerist word - thank god!

OK. It’s 2014. Google and Amazon have amalgamated to form Googlezon - Google owns cloud computing with the Google Grid and the New York Times and all newspapers are obsolete. Then Google launches EPIC…you have to see this great short film from the Museum of Media ….EPIC.

According to the Business Standard and research firm IDC, the majority of Indian Web 2.0 sites have no real business model and are struggling for both revenues and investments:

It’s a shiny, new dance floor, but how many can dance? The Web 2.0 market in India is still struggling for direction and funding, though the start-up scene in the Indian consumer space has been vibrant. Yet, the number of Web 2.0 companies focused on the enterprise or business space can be counted on one’s fingers.

A majority of players are active in areas like social networking sites (SNS), blogging, and document and multimedia sharing in the consumer space. A mere 12 of the 67 India-focused websites studied by research firm IDC have a clear enterprise or business-driven model to their operations, while 55 have a consumer focus.

Interesting article given the shear hype around the Web 2.0 phenomenon. Food for thought. The reality is that Web 2.0 technologies will become an integral part of doing business on the Web and only a few sites dedicated to exploiting the phenomenon as one will survive. Good luck!

Read the full article here.

Web 2.0 seems to be the new holy grail for all entrepreneurs and marketers, and while many experts sing its praises, an equal number do predict its demise into enterprise ether. The truth, as always, lies somewhere in-between. But one business area where Web 2.0 certainly has had a major impact is in branding and marketing. This cannot be denied.

Web 2.0 is a broad term that covers all aspects of Web usage or technologies that facilitate collaboration, sharing, online conversations, user-generated content or social networking of some kind. For example, there are over 10 million blogs today and no matter what area of business you are in, someone has probably created a blog about it and someone else is actually reading that blog. (Blog stands for Web Log or Journal or Site that a Web user creates themselves on any subject of their choosing.)

As a brand builder or marketer, ignoring Web 2.0 is ignoring some of the best tools you can find in managing your 360 degree (touching every touch point in your marketing matrix with an appropriate relationship) marketing strategy and your reputation online. Understanding your customer’s buying habits and interests, mapping current trends, getting free feedback and reviews, testing out new concepts on focus groups for free, managing your brand’s reputation through proper message management, distributing viral messages and ideas quickly – what else can a marketer ask for. This is the promise of Web 2.0. However, remember – the opposite can hold true as well – so use these tools carefully. Here are some ideas to help you along: Read the rest of this entry »

A quick survey of Websites considered “GREAT” will reveal that the majority of them were started by small companies or entrepreneurs using limited financing, a lot of sweat and a great idea. YouTube.com, Linkedin.com, Craigslist.com, Flickr.com, Naukri.com and even the big boys Yahoo and Google were once ideas in the heads of individuals or small companies. But, how did these brands become so big and in such a short time.

Well, apart from luck, timing and the presence of angels, all online branding exercises share certain characteristics that differentiate them and make them “great.” In the 14 years I have been designing and studying online and multimedia brands I have come to understand that there are seven steps any entrepreneur can take to ensure success. Read the rest of this entry »