Web 2.0 Becoming Mainstream?

This recent OnPhilanthropy article suggests that Web 2.0 technologies are now in use by all ages of Internet users, not just the young.  More 'traditional' email appeals aren't having the same impact, with open rates dropping to 14% in the latest Convio Online Marketing Nonprofit Benchmarking Index Study.  Facebook Causes and YouTube's nonprofit channel have started to play a large role in online fundraising and constituent engagement.  Yet Harry Lynch of SankyNet says the email is not dead yet in this AFP article, Isn’t Email Just Like Regular Direct Mail—But on Steroids.

Nten's WeTheMedia Project offers an interesting challenge this month to Create the Ultimate Nonprofit Social Media Toolbox, categorizing web 2.0 tools by:

  • listening - monitoring conversations, using RSS readers and social bookmarking
  • participating - commenting on conversations
  • sharing your story - using blogs / podcasts and sharing photos / videos
  • spreading awareness, generating buzz - accessing 'crowd sourced' news and content, using micro media to broadcast content to targeted communities, and using a 'life stream'
  • social networking for action and fundraising - using social networks and fundraising widgets / applications.
My take: when even the value of email communications is being questioned, it's time to sit up and pay attention to the many new ways a nonprofit can develop ongoing relationships with its constituents.

Addendum 10-15-08
Social networking expert Beth Kanter offers How Much Time Does It Take to Do Social Media, - apparently enough to fill a full time position.

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Lonet
Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the Internet as a platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform. Web 2.0 is starting to mean the situation where amateur writers and developers are able to create applications and Web sites that get more credibility than traditional news sources and software vendors.
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Lonet

<a href="http://www.widecircles.com" rel="dofollow">Social Bookmarking</a>
janeashley
Web 2.0 encapsulates the idea of the proliferation of interconnectivity and interactivity of web-delivered content. Web 2.0 technology encourages lightweight business models enabled by syndication of content and of service and by ease of picking-up by early adopters.In the year and a half since, the term "Web 2.0" has clearly taken hold, with more than 9.5 million citations in Google.The analysis of the economic implications of "Web 2.0" applications and loosely-associated technologies such as wikis, blogs, social-networking, open-source, open-content, file-sharing, peer-production, etc. has also gained scientific attention.

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janeashley
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