Web 2.0 and its relevance to business

This article aims to summarise the meaning of Web 2.0, its general use in business and then look at how it is and can be used in education related businesses like StudyLink. The purpose of this is to confirm the relevance of Web 2.0 to businesses and their stakeholders today, and support this with examples of Web 2.0 in various forms of literature as we as real world examples including StudyLink.

Outline of Web 2.0

It’s ironic that the first version of the internet, or perhaps we can call it “Web 1.0”, was originally intended to be interactive. In a case study about Wikipedia, Tim Berners-Lee, whom created the World Wide Web in 1990 says it was “…intended that every web browser would be able to edit pages, not just read them” (Creeber G & Martin, R, 2009). Web 2.0 is apparently closer to what Berners-Lee imagined his World Wide Web to be.

While people think of popular web portals and applications such as FaceBook, Twitter and LinkedIn as “Web 2.0”, these do not define the term but are examples of Web 2.0 developments. As said by Dan Matthews, “In essence, Web 2.0 refers to the ability to collaborate and share information online, in a way that we weren’t capable of doing just a few years ago” (2008).This would indicate that “Web 1.0” is simply web sites and applications where the user is passive, with abilities restricted to reading or purchasing.

Max Mancini , Director of eBays Platform and Disruptive Innovation Team, describes Web 2.0 as “taking all of the components and making them available so that people can combine them in ways that you would have never have considered, or that are very personal for an individual experience” (Jones, B, 2008). Web 2.0 is not limited to a certain application or group of applications, but is the result when an application has been developed and its users are able to take online communication to another level.

Not only is the way humans interact on or with the web different, but applications in Web 2.0 are able to communicate with each other in new ways too. Mancini agrees that Web 2.0 is “creating a lot more openness so you can integrate things that you would have had to build from scratch before” (Jones, B, 2008).

To take this further, e-business has been impacted and changed via Web 2.0 and one major impact has been the way advertising and marketing has been adapted to these new, more interactive forms of internet use. In “Web 2.0 Heroes: Interviews with 20 Web 2.0 Influencers “, Jones explains that introducing the integration of advertising to blogs and other interactive applications meant that money could be made in ways never before possible (Jones, B, 2008, pp 4).

It could be argued that Web 2.0 is more personal and many Web 2.0 applications involve some level of customization from the user. For example, the creation of a profile on FaceBook, uploading of photo’s and changes to colour schemes on a blog or the creation of a LinkedIn profile all allow the user to “make something” or show part of themselves to the public. Psychologically, this must be a more gratifying experience than simply using the internet in the same way one would read a book or magazine. It must also appeal to the ego and “show off” within people, “It all derives from people’s desire to talk about themselves, or to put it another way, to be famous and respected.” (Matthews, D, 2008).








Uses of Web 2.0 in business

Web 2.0 involves a number of various technologies, all enabling their users to communicate in different ways. Perhaps a good summary of the uses of Web 2.0 in general is given in this graph below, from the article, “Six ways to make Web 2.0 work” by Chiu, Miller and Roberts.


(Chiu, M. Miller. A & Roberts. R, 2009)

Whilst there are many examples of Web 2.0 technologies, the diagram divides these into 5 broad categories:

1. Broad collaboration
This is where “cocreation” is encouraged of content and applications and can be seen in Wikis and share workspaces such as Google Docs.

These “Broad Collaboration” forms of Web 2.0 can be internal company tools, for example Google Docs, which is used in my company as a way of sharing a document and developing it amongst a restricted group of people. Another form of Broad Collaboration Web 2.0 can be seen in publicly accessible Wikis such as Wikipedia. Both of these forms add value in that a variety and large number of people can contribute to a single document without having to physically be in the same room.

2. Broad Communication
This is where technology companies are able to communicate with many other technology users as in blogs and videocasting.

Blogs are one of the dominant forms of Web 2.0 technology and are a simple way for users to communicate with each other, focusing on “microcontent” (Li & Lu, 2007), making “blogging” more of a social channel rather than simply a Web 2.0 technique. In this regard, businesses have referred to blog and other broad communication use as the modern-day “word-of-mouth” marketing.

3. Collective Estimation
This is where the power of a group of users is utilized to come to conclusions on any given topic. Polling and predictions work to generate an online version of the “educated guess”.

Examples of polling can be found embedded into some Broad Communication and Social Graphing tools such as blogs and social networking websites such as FaceBook. Companies can use such tools to receive feedback from their target audience in regards to specific products and base their future business activities on their findings as a form of market research.

An example of this is when StudyLink included a survey named “Student Pulse” within one of its targeted emails to users registered on its web sites. The students were able to click-thru from the email into an online polling form and the data they keyed in was collected and later used in marketing materials. I personally experienced using such data in sales and marketing activity and found it to be well received by potential university and college clients.

4. Metadata creation
This works to add new information to the main content of websites to keep the site “alive” and more attractive and valuable to its users. RSS feeds are a key tool for metadata creation.

RSS feeds are often one part of a larger website and work effectively to showcase snapshots of and are linked to full articles or documents which are also part of the website. A project I work on called the Global Management Challenge, a strategic business simulation competition for students, includes RSS feeds on its website which are headlines linked to articles from The Australian website. This is part of a media partnership between StudyLink and The Australian and works to bring relevant content to our website but also to drive traffic to articles from The Australian.

5. Social Graphing
Social Graphing is based on the connections between people. Applications such as FaceBook and LinkedIn provide great volumes of applications which rely on the user to be connected to one or more users. FaceBook was designed for real-life social connections to communicate online and many applications were built around the idea that people were connected to people that they really know (Westlake, E., 2008 pg 25).

An example of how this is utilized in business is where colleges and universities use current students to give insights into life on campus and in effect become FaceBook testimonials of their educational institution (Wandel, T, 2008, pg 35). Many businesses also create their own official FaceBook pages where interested FaceBook users can become a “fan” of their product or business.

Another way Web 2.0 is being used by businesses is by several businesses positioning themselves as consultants and setting up web pages dedicated to providing free information for customers on how to utilize Web 2.0. Good examples of this can be found on the SalesForce (http://ideas.salesforce.com/) and Dell websites (http://www.ideastorm.com/).




Potential uses of Web 2.0 by StudyLink

StudyLink has positioned itself as “Web 2.0 savvy” and it’s CEO as an “early technology adapter”. In doing so, the company has taken up using a number of Web 2.0 applications, both for internal use and also in the products and services that it provides. Because of this, I will first look at 3 ways that StudyLink currently engages with Web 2.0 (listed as 1, 2 and 3) and then explore 3 areas that the company is not currently active (4,5 and 6).

1. Wikis (for internal company projects)

Wiki’s are used to electronically share documents between colleagues of one company or organization. The key benefit is seen to be the ease at which a group of people can collaborate remotely.　One of the key qualities of Web 2.0 of which Wiki’s are a prime example is summarized by Zhai and Liu, “User’s participation is the main principle of Web 2.0. Users become the creator of web contents instead of webmasters or web coders” (2007, pp 32).

Wikis save time in terms of cutting the need for a group of people involved in a project to travel to one location so as to discuss and manage the given project.

StudyLink does have an official “intranet” which has been designed for staff to share documents and includes some of the features and qualities of a Wiki. However, the tool was never really taken up by StudyLink staff on large scale. The key problem may simply be that it was implemented from the top-down. The 2007 McKinzey Survey says of adoption and barriers in Web 2.0, “The most effective efforts started as grassroots efforts. The role of senior management was to provide the support for this to continue and then get out of the way. Executives cannot mandate successful adoption of Web 2.0 technologies” (Bughin & Manyika, 2007). One of the difficulties to overcome would be to convince management of the benefits and to contribute to the Wiki the same way that they would contribute to face-to-face collaborative discussions or meetings. Another difficulty might be the justification of the investment in the Wiki from managers not directly involved in the project.

2. FaceBook

FaceBook is an example of a Social Networking Media platform feature rich with tools that enhance the way people communicate and stay in touch online. FaceBook is used in StudyLink in several ways. Firstly, each staff member in the marketing, management and services teams has their own FaceBook profile.

The purpose of this seems to be a form of team building, helping colleagues know and understand things about one another with the goal of improving work related communication.

The second way FaceBook is used is the FaceBook StudyLink page, where we have dedicated Marketing staff constantly updating information, adding links to our company run and related websites, starting and participating in discussions.

This works well as part of StudyLinks business model involves providing free information and advice to potential students of our university and college clients. The company page on FaceBook cements its positioning as a company that is accessible and understanding of students today.

Being on FaceBook adds two forms of brand value:

1. Increases exposure of the StudyLink brand to one of the company target markets (students).
2. Strengthens the image of the StudyLink brand through its association with the already popular FaceBook brand.

One of the main difficulties in implementing the use of FaceBook successfully is building the number of “members” or “fans” to your corporate page so that it reaches a number that could be considered a substantial audience. Then, once there are a significant number of members on the page, the next major difficulty is to balance the messages being broadcasted between being informative, useful and still influential – the goal being to turn members to potential clients or at least creating a positive impression to the group.

3. Virtual Research Event

One of the more recent Web 2.0 based products that StudyLink has developed for one of its Australian university clients has tentatively been named “Virtual Research Week”. The aim of the event being to recruit high quality research students, the tool comes in the form of a virtual event where prospective research students, research supervisors and research projects are connected in a space where the universities areas of strategic investment are “on show”.

Features include navigation of fifteen web pages which are not fully 3D but consistent with the idea of a virtual open day and focused on allowing easy navigation to the content and interaction elements. Each area is dedicated to a certain research focus that contains a YouTube-like video introduction from university faculty, a “pictorial walk” through the research facilities; links to existing content on the university site for more information; RSS feeds streaming latest news; online enquiry form and online application forms.

Eight live streaming video introductions from the eight core research areas were scheduled followed by 1 hour live chat, hosted and managed by StudyLink on behalf of the university but including university staff and faculty to help answer questions from the student.

There is a blog for each research area with a facility for comments and users must register meaning potential lead details can be captured and managed from that early stage.

As a marketing tool, the objectives include:
- To increase the quality of applications received for admission
- To align enrolments with the universities strategic investments (in research)
- To increase the number of enrolments from key target markets.
- To raise the research profile of the university
- To promote the positioning of the university as one “excellent in research” in order to obtain state, national and international recognition

Establishing and agreeing on how to measure the success of the project is one major difficulty given that so many different people and stakeholders are involved. These included marketing managers, professors, faculty heads and administration staff so everyone was excited about the project (or not) for their own reasons.

Finally a list of specific business outcomes and marketing metrics were agreed upon before the project went ahead.

4. Wikipedia

Wikipedia is a tool for defining terms and concepts via the collaboration of numerous volunteer participants within a public forum. Unlike the paper based Encyclopedia, Wikipedia does not have one authorized person credited for its content but instead relies on the participation of random volunteers from the public, and its nature is so that one definition can continuously be redefined.

In an interesting argument put forward by Li and Lu, Web 2.0 is described as a vehicle for knowledge to travel from an “internal/implicit knowledge” or knowledge kept within one’s mind, to an “explicit” or “tacit knowledge” in a process dubbed “externalization of tacit knowledge” (Li, G & Lu, K, 2007).

In the case of Wikipedia, users may create a “wiki” on any topic and this may be edited by another user so the “final product” is never actually final. StudyLink may be able to use this nature of openness to be continually added to or updated by other users as a way of collecting intelligence. It could be that utilizing this tool enables StudyLink to obtain “tacit knowledge” from the public in order to gain a greater feeling of public perception of StudyLink as a company and a brand. It may be a new way to acquire potentially valuable insights otherwise previously impossible.

One of the main difficulties to overcome when justifying a Wikipedia entry as part of a “strategic marketing plan” or business strategy is that historically Wikipedia has been publically criticized and its value as a resource has been questioned. In most cases, this has been for the same reasons that others have held Wikipedia in high regard. The idea that anyone can create or alter a definition or description has been described as unreliable and it has been common in schools and universities that students are warned not to use Wikipedia instead of an Encyclopedia or other book as a primary source during research because of this.

To get past barriers like this, it would need to be recognized that unlike an encyclopedia that begins to outdate once printed, the fact that Wikipedia is “alive” and is constantly being updated can be conceived as an advantage over the traditional reference books. The fact many individuals collaborate on a single definition is also naturally presenting a broader view of opinions and knowledge on a given topic or subject thank sources which are put together by a single expert. In the words of Creeber and Martin, “The very process of collaboratively producing an article on a topic with a ‘neutral point of view’ seems to foce those with different viewpoints to acknowledge and deal with their conflicting arguments in a relatively mature manner” (Creeber & Martin, 2009, pg 44).

5. Video casting

Whilst StudyLink provides a space for its university and college clients to upload short video of student testimonials or campus highlights on its student web portals, the use of video casting by senior management or the CEO for example, targeting potential decision makers within universities and colleges, is yet to be explored.

The most popular place for video casting is by far YouTube. Video conversations can be found in a variety of languages and importantly allow the users to see and hear the messages as opposed to reading them. Video content would also open up a range of ways StudyLink could support its current content.

For example, instructional video could be added to the “how to use this website” section for students using our course search systems. In the same way, for university staff using StudyLink’s online application systems, video content could be integrated into the system as a form of visual and verbal instruction. If the instructions were very useful and brief enough, this would open up the doors for the video to be passed around and with it the message that “StudyLink is innovative in the way it supports its clients and partners”.

Video of events, parties and other StudyLink related activities could be posted which don’t necessarily focus on a product or service but simply associate the StudyLink brand with a feeling. Evans and Bratton agree, “you can also use visual content to document events, parties, openings, cause related events, or product launches – all of which are things you participate in at the brand level….That is the social stuff that builds an audience” (Brattor & Evans, 2008, pp 223).

6. Podcasting

Podcasting is the publishing of a series of digital files which may be audio or video files and are available for download by the users at the convenient time of their choice.

Similar to video casting, podcasting could be used to add value in the areas of brand building and also providing an extra service for clients and partners in the form free of instructional content.

The main barrier and problem with implementing either video or podcasting would be convincing management that the time involved in implementing a podcast or videocast outweighs the value of other marketing activities.

Conclusion
In summary, Web 2.0 is the way the internet can now be used in a more personal, more interactive and more social way. It is a new way for people and businesses to express themselves and their messages, and receive responses. Uses for Web 2.0 can be divided into 5 categories including Broad Collaboration, Broad Communication, Collective Estimation, Metadata Creation and Social Graphing. Whilst StudyLink engages actively in Web 2.0 in using Wikis, FaceBook and its own Vitual Research Week products, there is still opportunity to further take advantage of other Web 2.0 tools including Wikipedia, Videocasting and Podcasting.