Twisted Sister

web 2.0:  on the list of things I knew nothing about until I did my MBA at Ryerson.

qu'est-ce que c'est?

"web 2.0" refers to what was perceived as a second generation of web development and web design that facilitates communication, interactive information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design, and collaboration on the World Wide Web. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0

basically, it is the building block behind a generation of facebook creepin’ cyber stalkers. Our enjoyment of social networks, blogs, wikis and the like comes to us courtesy of web 2.0.

Dear web 2.0
Just a quick note to thank you for your thoughtfulness, and for enabling me to creep the ongoing lives of ex boyfriends on the world wide web.  In my life, there have been few moments as satisfying as the opportunity to witness my former loves fall apart without me; losing their looks and sense of style; and selecting lesser women as their life-partners.  Some days web 2.0, you make my day.
xoxo
Jenn

Are social networks new? Or are we just dealing with the cyber twin sister of “that girl”?

You know her: the friend who knows all, sees all, informs you of all, and tells everyone else “all” as soon as she gets the chance.

You love her AND you love to hate her.

Let’s be serious now….the social media indulgent are just closeted versions of “that girl”. Via social media we can creep, get juicy details that we would otherwise not be privy to, spread those details to our friends and networks, and then feign innocence by dropping a harmless white lie…. 

“It wasn’t me! I didn’t say anything”.

Fortunately,  Psychology Today tells me that “Gossip is Golden”. According to researchers: “Gossip serves important social and psychological functions; it’s a unifying force that communicates a group’s moral code. It’s the social glue that holds us all together”. http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/199607/the-real-slant-gossip

If gossip is the glue, then web 2.0 is like an industrial strength societal weld.  Amazing.

So how can organizations leverage web 2.0 technologies for communication?

Let me count the ways: how about linking people globally to better leverage resources; creating Wikis for knowledge management; instant messaging between team members; brand building; leadership blogs. I can go on, but I think you get the picture….

Web 2.0 gets 2.0 meows from me.