Using Web 2.0 Technologies to Solve Web 2.0 Issues
If you mention the phrase ‘Web 2.0′ to some communications professionals, don’t be surprised if the reaction you get is less than positive. With the spread of misinformation and urban legends, the rise of a blogosphere with potentially vigilante elements and a constant battle over Wikipedia entries, the social media revolution may be at the root of many sleepless nights for some marcom staffers.
But it all depends on how you look at it. Smart companies are turning to Web 2.0 technologies like social networking and microblogging service Twitter (click here for an excellent explanation of this somewhat tedious-to-explain service) to take a proactive approach in solving today’s communications and brand management problems.
Take Blip.tv for example: The online television network used Twitter to virtually ‘listen in’ on their customers, and was able to identify a service issue and fix it before it became a larger problem–one potentially gaining mainstream media attention. “If we hadn’t seen those Twitters, we might not have fixed that problem for six months,” said the COO.
But taking advantage of Web 2.0 technologies isn’t just for those businesses that are a product of the Internet age–more traditional companies are recognizing the benefits as well. Cable giant Comcast apparently monitors Twitter for mentions of their brand, even over the weekend. The quick action of one Comcast executive solved the problem of a very influential blogger who even gave the company kudos for realizing the value of Twitter as an early warning system for brands.
Perhaps the solutions to problems caused by Web 2.0 technologies can be found in the same space, if we choose to search for them there.
