and encourage you to explore them firsthand. Most are free
so they are easy to try. You are also encouraged to stay on top of new trends and applications by following online sources like Mashable
Social Media Today
and Social Media Examiner. The only way to truly understand the social media environment is to immerse yourself in it
experiencing it directly. We think it is both fascinating and fun
and hope you will too.Questions1. How has Web 2.0 changed the behavior of Internet users?2. What are the basic tools or applications that characterize Web 2.0?3. Why is Web 2.0 referred to as the social Web?4. What are some of the benefits or advantages that Web developers gain from using AJAX technologies?5. What are some of the most important messages for business organizations in the Cluetrain Manifesto?6. What is feature convergence? Give some examples of this trend with regard to social media apps. 7.2 Social Networking Services and CommunitiesOnline or virtual communities parallel physical communities
such as neighborhoods
clubs
and associations
except they are not bound by political or geographic boundaries. These communities offer several ways for members to interact
collaborate
and trade. Virtual or online communities have been around for a long time and predate the World Wide Web. The Usenet provided the initial platform for online communities by making it possible for users to exchange messages on various topics in public newsgroups
which are similar in many ways to online bulletin board systems. While the Usenet is technically not part of the Internet
much of its content can be accessed from Internet sites like Google Groups or subscription-based news services like Giganews and Astraweb.Online communities can take many forms. For instance
some people view the blogosphere (all the blogs on the Web) as a community. YouTube is a community of people who post
view
and comment on videos. Epinions is a community of people who share their experiences and opinions about products and companies. Flickr
Photobucket
and similar sites are photo-sharing communities. Wikipedia is a community of people who create
edit
and main-tain an online knowledge base. Twitter is a community
or perhaps several communities
of people who frequently exchange short
140-character messages with one another about a variety of topics. Obviously
social networking sites like Facebook and LinkedIn are commu-nities and have seen tremendous growth in recent years. People today spend a significant portion of their time on social networks (see Figure 7.2). For better or worse
social media has
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