Explaining Web 2.0 to techno-neophyte newsies

Most of us who work in new media for news organizations – or those coaching from the dugout like academics, consultants and vendors – can’t get enough “Web 2.0” in their lives. No matter what you think about the loaded label, I’ll bet you’re a big fan of sites like Technorati, eBay, craigslist, wikipedia, MySpace, Flickr, YouTube, and del.ic.ious. If not in actual usage, then from a distance in awe of the community each has created (in a short time with absolutely no marketing, oh by the way).

But how do you transfer this zeal to the non-initiated without having eyes gloss over from talk of tags, pings, APIs and AJAX?

Naturally, the best approach to take when explaining complicated technological concepts is to break them down into easily digestible parts. The first chapter of my book aims to explain Web 2.0 and why its advent is important to journalism and news companies. I plan to break it down into two main sections: 1) the future is now; and 2) you can do this.

Have you seen (or written) a good column, essay or blog post that will help? {encode="mark.briggs@thenewstribune.com" title="Send me a link"} or post it with a comment to this post.

Posted by MarkBriggs on Sunday, October 15, 2006
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