web 2.0

Facebook and the downsides of software as a service

The tizzy created by Facebook's page design changes point out some valuable lessons that we should keep in mind as we head more into a SaaS and cloud-based world.

1. Choosing when to change

There are many differences between how shrink-wrapped applications and software as a service (SaaS) work, but one of them is that customers of shrink-wrapped software choose when, and if, they upgrade. They kick the tires to look around at the changes beforehand, download a trial, poll other users, wait for the .1 rev and the kinks to get worked out.

With SaaS, changes get pushed … Read more

Win a free pass to Web 2.0 Expo 2009

The annual Web 2.0 Expo kicks off at the end of this month in San Francisco. As in years past, it should be an interesting conference with a ton of useful sessions for those involved in the Web ecosystem, as well as an exhibit hall populated by core Web 2.0 infrastructure companies.

You can get a 35 percent off a conference pass to the event by using the code websf09btd45 on the registration site, or better yet, win a free, all-access pass (I have two to give away) by participating in our contest.

Here's the game: Describe, … Read more

Is your brand vulnerable?

Social media strategist Shannon Paul, who works with the NHL Detroit Red Wings, said many good things on a SXSW panel this Sunday, but the one thing that stuck with me most was her assertion that brands need to become more “human” in order to connect with their audiences. She wasn’t referring to personifying a brand through a human face (be it an average employee or a charismatic leader), but rather to exhibiting ‘branded’ behavior that is truly human. What does that mean? What is the most human trait of all human traits? Shannon Paul posits it’s vulnerability.… Read more

What to expect at SXSWi, part 1: Marketing and launches

This is part one of a four-post series.

It was a sort of worlds-collide surprise when I heard recently from a few guys from my hometown whom I've known since college. They wanted to talk to me about this month's South by Southwest Interactive Festival, that annual everyone-goes-there digital culture bacchanalia in Austin, Texas, which runs from Friday through next Tuesday.

You see, these friends of mine had recently started working at a company called JagTag, which creates barcode-based marketing campaigns for clients like sports teams and apparel brands. They're hoping to spread the word about the … Read more

Webware Radar: Allvoices brings credibility to citizen journalism

Allvoices.com has launched a Credibility Meter across its citizen news service. According to the company, the Credibility Meter will be placed at the bottom of every news story to help readers determine the trustworthiness of a particular citizen journalist's postings on the site. The final determination of an author's credibility is based on how well the community likes content from the author, how well the community enjoys a particular report, how many contributors are writing on the same topic, and how many mainstream sources have supporting content about the report. The Credibility Meter is live now.

TripAdvisor … Read more

Do tech hopefuls still need Demo and its ilk?

When Demo 09 kicks off Monday in Palms Springs, Calif., the high-technology showcase conference that prides itself on putting cutting-edge companies in front of A-list venture capitalists and journalists will do so in perhaps the worst economic environment in modern tech history.

Exhibitors at Demo pay well into five figures for the privilege of giving a six-minute presentation to a room full of influencers--many of whom have paid up to $3,000 to be there. So one could wonder whether the show can maintain its relevancy while companies are shedding record numbers of jobs, when credit is as tight as … Read more

Recession makes cave-dwellers sell on eBay

Curt Sleeper is a man ahead of the curve. The curve that begins the downward spiral.

Understanding that humanity is regressing to its cave-dweller roots, he and his wife Deborah bought their own cave in Festus, Mo., back when most people were tossing their home equity down a cavernous hole.

The Sleepers even sold their DVD collection to buy the 17,000 square foot cave. I don't even want to think what their heating bills must be. However, I know they are now experiencing a deep chill.

The cave cost $160,000, of which the Sleepers put down half. … Read more

The biggest online security risk: humans

Following up on a post about the top Web 2.0 security threats I thought I would take a quick look at what I mentioned as one of the biggest security threats to any company: information leakage.

All the delightful modern collaboration tools we use--blogs, wikis, SaaS applications, etc.--just make it easier for your corporate information to walk out the door. Regardless of the systems or applications your company uses, odds are any piece of data can (and will) be accessed, e-mailed, written down, or just remembered by a large percentage of your staff.

Information Leakage: Web 2.0 applications promote user-generated content and thus blur the line between work and private life. As a result, users may publish as part of their Web presence, information considered sensitive by their employer. Even if users are careful and do not leak information that is by itself sensitive, the aggregation of many small data items may be unacceptable.

Generally speaking, information leakage is nearly impossible to contain, regardless if data is Web 2.0 browser-based or not. Think back to the last time you used a public Web terminal at an event or hotel--I can't remember a time when I couldn't just hit the back button or history tab that at a bare minimum revealed the last users' e-mail address.

So what can you do to protect your business? The truth is that there are few non-draconian methods available to protect your data and ensure that people are using collaborative tools effectively. In this case, prevention is the best medicine. … Read more

The firewall vs. the cloud

I was a little surprised when the Twitter-for-the-Enterprise service Yammer won the TechCrunch50 Best of Show award in 2008. Not because Yammer is a bad app or because I think the idea of a business Twitter is silly (I think it makes a lot of sense, in fact), but because as an enterprise service, Yammer seemed tone deaf in one key area: it was released as a hosted service and didn't give business customers direct control of the records of conversations that their employees might be having.

The hosted model makes financial sense. It's much cheaper to contract … Read more