The online world has been through a number of stages. In the beginning, it became a handy area to erect an advert. After a several years, those ads had morphed into web-based shops, info hubs and cost comparison websites. As of March 2009, Ofcom reported that broadband internet access was present in sixty eight % of UK homes – so it’s not surprising that a new trend is emerging.
68%
Web 2.0 would be the unofficial name given to a completely new breed of interactive online and internet sites programs, focused on dynamic, user-generated material or’ social media’.
Web 2.0
Certainly it is just a trend?
Surely it is just a trend?
Web 2.0 may be a stylish buzzword, but make no mistake – it presents the latest era of online interaction from which there is no going back. Facebook has over 250 million end users worldwide, half of which log on every day. The UK Government recently announced plans to generate high speed broadband into every residence in the nation by 2012 and ComScore statistics show that eighty % of UK Internet users accessed more than one social networking site in May 2009.
250 million
each home
80%
Why does it matter?
Why does it matter?
At this time there are well over 200 million blogs in the world. 34 % of bloggers publish views about products and brands also – based on SES Magazine – twenty five % of listings for the World’s 20 largest companies are back links to user generated content.
Even worse still, in case you have the misfortune – or maybe shortsightedness – to buy on the incorrect side of multiple customer, social media has the power to bring them together. Think to the statistic relating to search engine results for big brands. A good example is Fasthosts Hell – an unofficial customer support blog set in place by disgruntled clients of a famous hosting organization. It ranks second in Google for Fasthosts’ very own manufacturer.
So what can I do?