If you're a business who has been ignoring the Web 2.0 trend and the spread of social media: look out, the tide is shifting and you're about to be left behind. The rise of social media didn't happen overnight, the power of the internet to unite people, the ubiquity of broadband, the rise of Gen Y, the development of new technologies for socializing on the web - all of these things and more have led to the rise of social media. And this new force is affecting change in the way that companies do business - now and for many years to come.
Web 2.0 Is Nearly Mainstream
Just recently, Business Week ran an update to their 2005 study "Beyond Blogs," saying that today the title should be "Social Media Will Change Your Business." The story highlighted the current trend of workers not just using blogs, but also social networks and other Web 2.0 applications to spread news, connect, create buzz, interact and socialize with others -both for business and for pleasure.
While this lack of control frightens upper management and causes I.T. nightmares in some cases, businesses are already becoming aware of these new trends as the next Generation, Gen Y or the "Millennials," as they are sometimes called, enters the workforce.
Even 60 Minutes recently updated their story about this new generation, 80 million strong, who are rapidly taking over the web...and the world (as we said here). Besides their seemingly alien values - everyone's a winner, me-first, work isn't everything, I'm a commodity I can sell myself to the next business who wants my talents, needing to always know why?, and more, one of the most visible changes is their interaction with technology. Born into a time when computers had always existed, Gen Y embodies the definition of a digital native and they have mastered the tools of social media and use them as easily as we check our email.
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