To me the terms “Web 2.0” and “Social Networking” are quite confusing. The problem is that there is not really an agreed definition. Well, Wikipedia covers a very broad and extensive definition, but it leaves a lot of room for interpretation. For example, Web 2.0 is often used by web designers to refer to a certain visual style (vibrant colours, reflection effects, beta logos, you’ve seen it). Technical people may refer to things like search and RSS and requirement engineers may focus on the interactivity (rate, comment, network) aspect of social networking. Vendors claim that their product is Web 2.0 ready, but nobody knows what that even means. Others think that a Wiki or Blog is Web 2.0. With so many definitions and perspectives in place, it is hard to discuss social networking in the context of an enterprise, as I recently experienced.

So how do you explain to a business representative, who may not be that internet-savvy, what exactly social networking and web 2.0 is? I do not claim to have the answer to this, but my take on this is to focus on simple use case scenarios:

• I can search/browse for content
• I can search/browse for people
• I can interact with a user in various ways (add as friend, view profile, follow, chat, etc)
• I can rate all content
• I can comment on all content
• I can subscribe to all content
• I can favorite all content
• I can share/publish my personal thoughts, favourites, ideas, etc
• I can create a community/group place to collaborate with like-minded individuals
• I can create and classify (tag) content
• I can do all of the above anytime, anywhere, on any device
• Preferably, a reputation management system is integrated into the above
• Preferably, I do not have to use overlapping systems or data to do any of the above

This way of defining social networking is still subjective and likely not broad enough, yet personally I like this user-centric approach as a way to get across the basics. What do you think?

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