"Web 2.0 -- the often wide-sweeping term for a new generation of online applications and services offering user-generated content, customized Web pages, or social networking -- or all three." fastcompany.com

Well, correct, I guess. Web 2.0 is just a buzz word with very little consensus amoung technorati as to what it includes. That said it is a very convenient moniker for describing the new direction of the web. At intraMedia, we think it means using all these new, two-way technologies to engage your community in a closer, richer dialog.

As we work with organizations to implement these ideas, we're finding ways to put these two-way technologies to work that are having consequences far beyond the obvious. In one instance, when we went looking for RSS content to aggregate on a new site, we found that there really wasn't any. We decided to make our client the source of the news feed. By searchng the web for related articles, it was trivial to begin blogging links to those articles. Using Drupal 's build-in RSS feed feature it was also trivial to create an RSS feed for the category. Now our client is a national expert source to their community for current news about their vertical niche. The added prestige of being the news aggregator/source, as well as the added site traffic, has propelled their image. Since there is a lobbying component to this organizations mission, the comments generated by the blog/news articles, are providing valuable feedback and insight into the communities reaction to current events; the virtuous circle.

There are more and more examples of how these Web 2.0 technologies are changing how we communicate. We'll blog about them so come back often or subscribe to our own RSS feed.

Here's what a leading authority, Tim O'Reilly, thinks Web 2.0 is. And, by the way, he own's the servicemark for that phase! Web 2.0 Design Patterns and Business Models for the Next Generation of Software