Social Media, Web 2.0 and the ever-evolving nature of the web

A colleague of mine passed on this presentation. There are some interesting statistics in there on the growth and influence of Web 2.0 and social media on the web. It has become clear to me in the last few years that many aspects of so-called Web 2.0 are "game-changers" in that they aren't just fads that will come and go (though some services certainly will), but that they will and already are changing the way we work and interact on the web. Something like Twitter, Facebook and Netvibes will always be there in some form, I reckon.

For example, I would have never predicted 2 years ago that in a typical work day I would:

• use Facebook to chat with colleagues in other time zones to quickly pass on information related to our work
• use Twitter as a resource discovery tool and to interact with others in my field who I have never met and in some cases aren't even sure where they are in the world!
• write a blog (as I'm doing now!) about Drupal, Web 2.0, etc. and receive so many good tips, hints and feedback that is ultimately helping to build our Drupal system
• be recording, editing and publishing podcasts
• that Facebook and Wikipedia are in the top 15 referring sites to our flagship site

For me, the biggest "game-changers" all revolve around the ease of which the above is facilitated by Web 2.0 and social media. The technology has (finally) gotten so simple that anyone so-inclined can:

• create a website using a web content mgmt system
• write a blog (or microblog - Twitter)
• create a wiki
• create a podcast
• share everything from videos (YouTube, Blip) to PowerPoints (Slideshare.net) to articles and links (Facebook, del.icio.us, etc.)
• and many other examples

Clay Shirky's "publish then filter" mantra is now the norm. The "conversation" as I like to call it when I teach workshops about Web 2.0 has begun and anyone is welcome to contribute. And, Drupal, IMHO, is the perfect CMS for this environment. We're about 4 months into our development and are very impressed by the ease with which one is able to create blogs, wikis, RSS feeds and other collaborative and "social" web environments.

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