In 2006, Tim O’Reilly, founder of top tech publishing company O’Reilly Media, gave his compact definition of Web 2.0:

“Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform. Chief among those rules is this: Build applications that harness network effects to get better the more people use them. (This is what I’ve elsewhere called “harnessing collective intelligence.”)

Now let’s compare that to what top Bloggers Dan Farber (CNET News.com), Marshall Kirkpatrick (ReadWriteWeb), Mike Butcher (TechCrunch), Dean Takahashi (VentureBeat), Scott Beale (Laughing Squid), Josh Lowensohn (Webware).

For me, Web 2.0 is multifaceted:

• Platforms and tools that increase communication, collaboration and connection
• Software built around communities
• Open platform with applications that run in the cloud
• User-generated content or data creating two-way exchange

It’s also a term of reference for the phase of evolution of the Internet in which we currently reside. Marketers like it too!

Next steps (Web 3.0) [UPDATE: Check out this post from ReadWriteWeb on Web 3.0]:

• Connect disparate communities with data portability and openID
• Platforms and tools that help sort data so users can find what they want and interface with it where and how they want it
• Build infrastructure to allow full integration of Web 2.0 aspects with traditional networks

How do you define Web 2.0? Where do you see the Internet headed in the next 5 to 10 years? Let us know in the comments.

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Every Thursday, socialTNT channels the spirit of citizen journalism by putting bloggers, reporters, PR pro’s or anyone with something to say about social media in front of the camera for a short, three minute interview. The videos are meant to encourage dialog between PR/communications practitioners and marketers on the future of media.

Today, socialTNT sat down with Cathryn Hrudicka, Chief Imagination Officer and Founder of Creative Sage. She also helps out with the Social Media Club here in SF. Today, Cathryn tells us her number one tip for PR pros and give some advice to companies planning their social media strategy.

Growing up with a father who ran an ad agency, Cathryn was always exposed to copy editing and idea generation. He also instilled a sense of entrepreneurship in her; it’s not surprising that Cathryn now heads a firm that consults on PR, marketing, and innovation strategy.

Over the last 20 years, Cathryn has done it all. A musician, Cathryn started out handling the PR and marketing for bands in which she played. From raising millions of dollars as development directors for non-profits to producing talk shows and broadcast, she is truly a woman of many trades. She moved to tech PR in the 90′s, developing ways to reach communities when the web was still one dot oh.

Fun Facts About Cathryn:

• Originally came to San Francisco to go on a road trip to Alaska. She never left for Alaska and hasn’t left the Bay Area.
• Once acted as publicist for a Grateful Dead concert.
• Lives in Berkeley.
• Uses interesting methods of creativity to fuse left and right brains to create business strategy ideas
• On twitter, tumblr, Facebook and LinkedIn
• Has a social Entrepreneur Squidoo lens.

In the following video, Cathryn lets us know what she loves about Web 2.0 and gives PR peeps some seasoned advice. Oh and small biz or marketing peeps, there’s some stuff in there for you, too!

What’s the best thing you can do with Web 2.0 that you couldn’t with Web 1.0? What’s your best advice to those launching a social media campaign? Let us know in the comments!

No time to watch the video at work? Get “3Q’s in 3Min” free from iTunes and watch it on the go!

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[The above photo, “Cathryn Hrudicka” by Randy Stewart, is used under Creative Commons]

This week, a lot of talk has been given to “Web 3.0.” Before discussing how to approach a social media campaign, it’s important to step back and look at some of the key points that got us to where we are today; look at two defining moments in media history; and figure out where we are going.

A Condensed History of the Internet

When the internet was invented, society was blessed with a way to access tons of information (content), regardless of distance. News sites posted their news, scientists their findings, etc. It was very one-sided.

Next, the internet was discovered as a means to communicate. People could email photos to family or forward funny jokes to friends. After email came chat rooms and instant messaging. Now we could communicate in real-time with others.

With the search engine, people were finally able to quickly and easily sort through all the stuff out there and find a great price on a camera or news about any company or person. Suddenly, we were able to get the information we wanted, when we wanted it.

One day, someone realized that the publishing capabilities and the communication aspects of the internet could be combined. Technology was developed that enabled users to effortlessly generate content. They became the creators and the distributors. They could respond to the news or to each other. Web 2.0 was born, and with it a conversation began.

OMG, there’s a lot of S**T out there!

Now that everyone is producing and publishing, there’s a lot of s**t out there. With search, you can find things, but how do we keep up with it all? How do we know what’s relevant?

News feeds (RSS and ATOM) made content easy to follow by providing a steady stream of updates to favorite blogs and news sites. Then, people started tagging (or adding keywords) to their content. This made it easier to find posts or discussions on a particular topic.

Currently, these tools are used by Social bookmarking sites like digg and del.icio.us so people can bookmark what’s important, easily organize with tags and then share with their friends. Technorati uses tagging and news feeds to help users organize blogs effectively. Tags on facebook help members find pictures others have taken of them. Also, when you log into facebook, a news feed aggregates your friends’ changes and let’s you know what’s going on.

These innovations, in addition to services like Twitter, have changed the way content is delivered, consumed, and distributed. These changes create interesting challenges for news publishers and PR professionals, while simultaneously creating new ways to reach audiences.

Television and Social Media: Two Defining Moments

I think most PR and Marketing pros can accept that, whether we like it or not, people now have the ability to exchange and share ideas quickly and in real-time. They want information as it develops. No more traditional news cycle, much less 2 month lead times. Cool. I can dig that. But why social media? Isn’t it just a fad?

Two very tragic events have been pivotal points in the history of media. TV news media had its defining moment with JFK’s assassination. During that chaotic time, the whole nation was gathered around TVs, watching events unfold in real-time. At that moment, TV became the primary source by which people got news, proving the technology’s power to effectively disseminate information to a large mass of people outside the traditional news cycle.

With Virginia Tech, the events and tragedy unfolded through SMS, IM, personal blogs and facebook. Sadly, people looked online to communicate with love ones by posting messages, emailing, etc. When the traditional news media covered the online developments, it became proof-positive to me that social media was, in fact, the fastest, most effective way to communicate.

Analysis

I don’t want to be another person who heralds the downfall of print. Instead, I would rather encourage people to embrace the new technologies. By becoming proficient in the social media tools, we can supplement our traditional PR and marketing campaigns to not just reach audiences, but actively engage with them. Go ahead and let them choose the content they want in the form they want, mash it up, and share it with their friends. It’s the future of the internet. Just let go.

Thoughts?

The next posts in the series cover the current tools available, how to approach a social media campaign and a few tips on what not to do during execution.

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On Friday, the New York Times published an article discussing how law firms have started embracing social media by releasing videos for the “YouTube Generation.” In the piece, Karen Donovan tells us how a few firms have posted videos on their site in order to attract more summer associates. The videos, seen here (Choate Hall & Stewart) and here (Morrison & Foerster–Check “Summer Associates), offer two different approaches at reaching the same goal. The Choate videos are admittedly cute “Mac vs PC” spoofs. Other videos include highly produced, obviously very-coached, employee testimonials. The Morrison & Foerster videos, also employee testimonials, have a very “Real World” reality-show-confessional feel.

Both companies get mad props for trying to appeal to a younger crowd. The M&F videos, however, look more real; the employees seem a little nervous as they speak into a consumer grade video camera, making them more believable. Ultimately, however, the full use of social media could have been better utilized.

If the videos had been embeddable, colleagues and friends could easily share on Facebook, their personal blog, etc. Speaking of blogging, wouldn’t a Summer Associate blog be a neat idea? I know it’s a tad cliche, but it would give a peek into the day-to-day life of a Summer Associate. For a deeper glimpse, maybe a Twitter account. Better yet, how about a live Twitter chat with a few of the Summer Associates taking Tweets from the community.

Why is this important? Because social media is more than just shouting at your audience or even slyly trying to hook them in. You have to plan your campaigns with a different approach. It’s a conversation, stupid.

In the upcoming posts, we will discuss the history of social media, the best practices on how to prepare for your social-media campaign, the tools available and what not to do when executing them.

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Texas had one helluva rainy season this past summer and the spiders are LUVIN it. Instead of their usual solitary orbs, the spiders are spinning one giant, all-encompassing web. Various species of arachnids have come together to form communities, catch some buzz and then share files flies. Entomologists are rushing to be the first to dub this new era “Web 2.0.”

Sound familiar?

In his Dallas Morning News article, reporter James Hohman says experts believe the giant spider web–found just 50 miles east of my happy birthplace, Dallas–was created due to an abundance of food:

“Normally they are cannibalistic and their webs are separated,” said Allen Dean, a Texas A&M University entomologist who examined 250 specimens collected at the site along a trail at Lake Tawakoni State Park. “They live in harmony because there’s so much food available.”

Wow?! A vast supply of food, huh? Do tell more!

“Tetragnathidae are usually solitary spiders who build their own webs and mind their own business,” he said. “Here they are sharing a lot of foundation strands that are all over the place. They don’t have individual webs anymore.”

According to Hohmann, some experts even say “the web represented an evolutionary advancement among arachnids, which typically do not work together.” Sounds like spiders have realized the potential of sharing and using the new web to help get enough bread for everyone.

Now where have I heard that before? Hmmm. Maybe from reporters ushering in the era of social-media or from every progressive PR blogger out there.

Listen, people, in case you don’t know, we are in the (hopefully) beginnings of another tech boom spawned by the growing investment in social media. Silicon Valley is happy. PR peeps are happy. But is everyone feeling the love?

The other day, someone told me I’d finally been brainwashed. Couldn’t I see that all this talk about “open”and “sharing” was just BS? In the end, aren’t we all at war, competing for the same new business? My answer is “jein” (Ya-eyen: German slang compound word formed by joining “ja” yes and “nein” no).

Sure, we do compete for clients, but let’s move our thoughts from spiders for a sec and shift to bands. Bands may be competing for the same gigs, but are they enemies? No. It’s healthy competition and they are all members of a community. They move in and out of each other’s bands. Some collaborate here and then go play drums over there. It’s all chill. It’s a healthy competition. The thing is (back to spiders): It’s rainy season and there are more flies and mosquitoes than there have been in years; we aren’t competing for grub.

Ok, ok. I wasn’t doing PR during the (eek) last bubble burst, but I’ve heard stories. Yeah, it sounds horrible, but we have to dwell in the moment.

Closed-systems, hording and cannibalism leave firms isolated and alone. Let’s evolve, learn the new system, spin webs together and share the benefits. Who knows, maybe during the next dry spell, after the wind has blown Web 2.0 away and the surplus of flies are all gone, we can take a little of what we learned with us.

“The continuing number of egg sacks suggests high productivity, as biologists say,” Mr. Quinn noted. “The females are fat and happy so to speak. They have done well so far by laying so many eggs that the spiders continue to prosper.”

Time to prosper indeed. It’s a community! Let’s exchange ideas and all eat our fill. It’s an exciting time in history. The ways people are consuming media (text, audio, video) are changing, and I’m pretty excited about being a part of that.

Some might call me an idealist. Maybe I’ve had too much SHIFT Kool-Aid. But I’m happy and, like any spider with a belly full of flies, I’m productive and growing.

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