I read this article in Entrepreneur magazine over break and I thought I’d share it. Apparently even though some ppl are still in the dark ages and see web 2.0 sites as a negative, some are catching on.

URL: http://www.entrepreneur.com/magazine/entrepreneur/2008/february/188638.html

After Alicia Rockmore’s Ann Arbor, Michigan-based organizational products company, Buttoned Up Inc. scored shelf space at Target, Rockmore began doing research to keep the big red bull’s-eye happy. A friend invited her to join social networking site Facebook, so she created an individual profile touting her business. She hit pay dirt when she found an existing group of Target customers on Facebook.

“They talk about what they like, what they hear is coming from Target,” says Rockmore, 42. “It’s like free market research.” While she won’t give specifics for competitive reasons, Rockmore says she adjusted the product line of her $1 million company based on Target’s affinity for sharp looks and guest designers. She’s optimistic that this will pay off in a big way.

Facebook came on the scene in 2004 and hit the jackpot last October when Microsoft invested $240 million in the company. Like most social networking sites, it allows users to have a profile page and to connect with other “friends” online, sharing information and interests. Although it started as a hot site for college students, market research firm ComScore reports that now more than half of its 53 million users are over age 25.

“If you have a passion to share, it’s a no-brainer to be there,” says social media consultant Paul Gillin, author of The New Influencers: A Marketer’s Guide to the New Social Media. Gillin says the downside of Facebook is that it’s still difficult to apply branding to the profile pages, especially when compared with the flashing logo-wallpapered MySpace. But Facebook’s growth and audience make it a more attractive option for many businesses.

This is not lost on Facebook, which has added some handy business-oriented features, including a survey function that lets businesses get feedback on trends and ideas. The site also recently launched Facebook Ads, which lets businesses build pages on Facebook, spread brand messages virally and gather insights into the activities of Facebook users. Some have even built relevant tools for Facebook users through an application platform–for instance, an online movie retailer has a tool that allows Facebook friends to compare their favorite flicks.

As in most online venues, don’t be too promotional, Gillin says. Do be as exhaustive as you can on your profile page, though. Include information and form groups related to your business. A photographer might start a group to discuss photo tips, for example. Include links to landing pages on a website built especially for your Facebook group so that you can target offers more effectively. Most important, he says, contribute to conversations in a meaningful way. You’ll soon find yourself flooded with Facebook friends.

Gwen Moran is co-author ofThe Complete Idiot’s Guide to Business Plans. Reach her at gwen@gwenmoran.com.

The Internet by its very nature is impersonal. Social networking sites and Web 2.0 as a whole have attempted to create a more personal experience for Internet users, but will this idea last? Web 3.0 is on the way and it is all about using computers to do advanced things–things a human would normally be required to do.

Google wants to bring you news, but this news will be made up of numerous articles from media companies. RSS (Real Simple Syndication) puts headlines from the subject of your choosing right on your desktop. Sites like Digg will bring you information voted as good from other people.  No longer do users want to have to sift through information, they want it done for them.

Does this mean that social networking sites will become less relevant? That depends on if individuals want a way to track contacts, meet new people, and connect with others using technology. My thoughts are that the internet will evolve, but its impersonal nature will always exist. Its what we want, and the Internet is only evolving because we want more from it. It will only change into something the masses want.

Apple is attempting to put the “I” back into technology. Social networking sites and other Web 2.0 applications put the focus on the individual. Web 3.0 will still focus on “you” it will just mean that instead of you inputting a lot of data all over the place and meeting new people by contacting them, application will do this work for you. You will feel important, only because you will get exactly what you want instantly, without doing a lot of work.

So the concept of social networking is definitely an interesting one.  I answered a question about it in an internship application for a public relations firm.  They wanted to know the impact that social network could and should have on the field of public relations. 

 Interesting.

However, my question is this.  When has social networking via the internet gone too far? 

As was pointed out in a post before this, it is what you make it.  Some people choose to spend hours on facebook or myspace.  And the reality is that it is becoming more and more prominent.  

But I think that we need to be careful.  Consider for a moment the value of a face to face meeting.  As technology and the internet are growing, people are excited about the “progress” without realizing the adverse effect that it is having on other areas.  More and more people are working out of their houses because the internet has enabled ways for them to have meetings without leaving their homes.  I had a speaker in one of my classes last year who lives alone, and he runs his entire business from his house.  All of the people that he works with work with him via the internet – and thats it.  As a result, he literally never has to leave his house.  No wonder people are lazy!  They can conduct a meeting without leaving the comfort of their own couch! Literally, everything that they “need” is available to them via the internet. 

From a personal standpoint, I don’t see how that is healthy.
From a professional standpoint I don’t see how that is beneficial.

As the use of social networking via the internet increases, the value of face to face meetings decreases.  In addition to that, I think that business relationships will suffer.  I think I’d be a lot less likely to sign a contract with someone that I will never meet in person.  I’d also be a lot less likely to pass along the name of someone that I had never met outside of my computer screen. 

In terms of many of the career paths I have considered and are considering now, social networking via the internet is a valuable tool.  However, thats all it is, a tool.  Use it to speed process, and schedule things/ maintain good communication.  But it should not be substituted for face to face meetings. 

 At this point, we obviously not at the extreme that I listed above, but I feel like that is where we are headed.  I don’t want to underestimate the value of what the internet and social networking through those channels can do for us.  However, if we are not careful, I think this “progess” will eventually hinder the business world because we’ll have lost the value of face to face interaction. 

It’s fun to try and envision the future. Who could have imagined the capabilities of the internet just 10 years ago! Lets see if we can make some predictions about the near future of the web. This post will give a good overview of the direction of the web. Comment and give me your predictions!

Hat tip – many of these ideas are not my own and scrounged from many articles on Web 3.0 A few links I used are listed at the end. Thanks to all the brilliant people out there envisioning the future.

If Web 2.0 is all about:

• Interaction
• Connection
• Collaboration
• Contribution
• Sharing
• Blogs, Social media (Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, Digg)
• Coding (HTML)

The versioning of the web is a bit of a stretch and overdone but we’ll go with it. Many of these technologies are just out of view of radar or in beta. But, they’re coming!

“Web 3.0″ is going to be about:

• Relevancy
• Recommendation
• Personalization
• Intuitive experience
• Intelligent predicted results “complete your sentences”
• Applications: (last.fm, Google Docs, games)
• Coding (XHTML, AJAX, Ruby)

There is no denying it, social networking whether you like it or not has become a part of are everyday digital life and looks like it has no intentions of going anywhere.  It seems that everyone I have talked to, ”social networking” has become a part of their every day routine to the point where many depend on it.  You know it is bad when people give up faceboook for lent.  There is a reason for why over 9.4 million people have registered with facebook and that 65% of those users are logging into the site everyday  But is social networking all that it is cracked up to be.  Is this level of dependence healthy or necessary?

I beleive Social networking is what you make of it.  While my answer may appear to sort of on the fence, I really believe that in this case it is the only way to answer it.  I think that becuase the social networks such as facebook and myspace are user based, it is all on the user as to how much time and effort is put into it.  Sure sights like myspace and facebook are getting crtisized for stealing countless hours of peoples day or preventing the use of actual social skills to interact with others, but who is responsible for that.  At the end of the day, the individual users who are logging in and spending these hours are.  To be honest I am not the biggest fan of facebook and mypspace, however I realize that we live in a 2.0 world and that these sites, while often criticized, will undoubtedly play in an important role in the future.  Social networking is not an issue of like or dislike, but it is the way it is.