Up and coming

Hello loyal blog readers & thank you for your patronage,

This blog was my first real step into the Web 2.0 waters, after years as an event marketer telling people to pay a lot of money to attend conferences and become fully trained to navigate said waters. Choose your own adventure time: If you find yourself asking, “What does she mean, Web 2.0?” read on. To skip to the good stuff, please go to Paragraph 3.

Web 2.0 used to really mean something, but now it’s something that people like me throw around to try and prove that they know what they’re talking about when it comes to the internet and cutting-edge technology. These days it's essentially a euphemism for social networking. Think about it this way: When the internet first started, it was an email platform and a destination for information. Now, the internet is completely different (as pioneered by things like Wikipedia and constantly being shaped by things like Twitter) – and is all about the two-way exchange of information. It no longer just tells you things; you use it to say things as well – and not just to people you know via email and IM – to the world at large with status updates and blogs and Wikipedia entries. So that's what social networking & Web 2.0 boil down to: How we interact with the world at large via the internet (and social media just means the platforms on which we socially network). Got it?

For me, this blog has been a great intro to what social networking can really be about beyond Facebook (Yes, you can now find me on Twitter, BrazenCareerist.com, LinkedIn and much more). I've realized it's something I’m interested in learning and doing a lot more around (maybe even – yikes – as a career!), so I’m making a full-blown effort to be on the bleeding-edge of this stuff.

With that in mind, you’ll notice some changes round about these parts as I try some things out. On the right toolbar I’ve added three new boxes – they start with the heading Social Media Experiments of the Week, and that’s just what they are (though, week might be a bit generous): Forays into new ways to interact, engage and participate on the internet. Some of the new features will be an attempt to drive more traffic to this blog, some I’m hoping will make it a more interactive, fun experience for you existing readers, and some are just kind of neat. I will make every attempt to streamline where these applications are coming from, so you’re not constantly being asked to join new sites or add new functionality. And when I find things that work or really don’t – you can bet I’ll be talking about it. So, please tell me what you think – What you use, what you’ve tried, what you love and what you hate. That is what social networking is all about after all.

Hoping not to drown in Web 2.0 waters,
Ashley