web 2.0

What is Web2.0?

According to Wikipedia, "Web 2.0 is a term describing the trend in the use of World Wide Web technology and web design that aims to enhance creativity, information sharing, and mostly, collaboration among users. These concepts have led to the development and evolution of web-based communities and hosted services, such as social-networking sites, wikis and blogs". Web 2.0 is still a very new field, in every organisation where information can be exchanged from person to person. (Paul Graham November 2005)

To be more focussed of these Web 2.0 technologies (blogs, wikis, podcasts, RSS feeds, tagging etc) and the role they play in supporting knowledge management especially in higher education. A detailed definition of these Web 2.0 technologies is outside the scope of this article.

Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the Internet as a platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform. (O’Reilly, T., 2005)
Web2.0 Technologies in supporting KM
Take the case of an organisation which is adopted globally. This article tells about how web 2.0 technologies support KMS adopted by an organization.
As we discussed web2.0 is more focused with some technologies like Blogs, Wikis, Multimedia sharing, Podcast, Rss feeds, Tagging etc., here we are discussing some of these technologies.
Blogs:
The term web-log, or blog, was coined by Jorn Barger in 1997 and refers to a simple webpage consisting of brief paragraphs of opinion, information, personal diary entries, or links, called posts, arranged chronologically with the most recent first, in the style of an online journal (Doctorowet al., 2002). Most blogs also allow visitors to add a comment below a blog entry.

Here each and every individual have their own Blogs and their thoughts and ideas are discussed with sharing their personal knowledge for the development of the organization. Here these blogs are created in every branch of organization (ex: My organization have branches in India, UK, US and China where these blogs are created and used within those branches and they are going to discuss about the organization within the same branch). With blogging, knowledge can be shared easily, refined, retained and transferred - what knowledge management efforts seek to do.
Less an equivalent of reportage than of the essay’ (Benkler, 2006, p.217)

Wiki’s:
A wiki is a webpage or set of WebPages that can be easily edited by anyone who is allowed access (Ebersbach et al., 2006). Wiki as a collaborative tool that facilitates the production of a group work, is widely understood. Wiki pages have an edit button displayed on the screen and the user can click on this to access an easy-to-use online editing tool to change or even delete the contents of the page in question. Simple, hypertext-style linking between pages is used to create a navigable set of pages.
This is a web page in which a large number of part followers can put information about previous activities done organization and the follower’s perspectives on the present situation and they can even edit this content.
It facilitates the production of group work to enhance the development in the party. The extreme flexibility and open access as some of the many reasons why this wiki is useful for group work.
Alternatively, restricting access to registered users only is often used for professional, work group wikis (Cych, 2006).

Multimedia and Video sharing: This serves as storage and sharing of multimedia content like videos of organizations, video clippings on the problems of people in different branches, video clips of leader’s speech etc..,
This makes the followers all over from the country watch online videos from this multimedia sharing.
Social Networking: Social network, my social space, which makes large number of followers from different areas to meet, find like minds and share contents with friendly environment among the followers that ultimately results the organizational benefit (Cliff Saran 2007).
A social network service uses software to build social networks for communities of people share interests and activities primarily web-based and provide a collection of various ways to interact such as chatting, messaging, email, video chat, video file sharing, blogging discussions and so on. In this network we communicate and share information with one another in today’s society. Various social networking websites are being used by millions of people every day on a regular basis and it now seems that social networking is a part of everyday life.
Sandy Springs, GA - Utilizes Face book to post the latest news and keep residents informed on upcoming events.
References:
Anderson, P. 2007 http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/techwatch/tsw0701b.pdf (accessed on 30th March 2009)
MacManus, Richard. Porter, Joshua http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0 (accessed on March 31 2009
http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html
Leonard-Barton, D, 1995, Wellsprings of knowledge: building and sustaining the sources of
innovation, Boston, Harvard Business School Press

Nonaka, I and Hirotaka T, 1995, The knowledge-creating company: how Japanese companies
create the dynamics of innovation, New York, Oxford University Press