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Introduction
Web 2.0 is a term used to describe the evolution of web based programs, applications and websites from their originally static design towards a more dynamic and user centered platform that encourages information sharing, collaboration and user based content (Zielinski, 8). It is in a sense a form of evolution in the way users interact with websites from their previously passive viewing experience to a more interactive one that encourages users to share information Zielinski, 8). Clay Shirky in his book Cognitive Surplus states how the internet has provided people with a platform in which to collaborate, experiment and as a result create effective social change through various collaborative works (Shirky, 8).
It is this collaborative aspect that has driven the greatest amount of change in how the internet works, functions and is used by a variety of users. For example, the most popular websites online are usually social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace, online blogging platforms such as those provided by e-blogger.net, online information wikis such as Wikipedia.com and the infamous Wikileaks.com, and finally video sharing sites such as Youtube, Crunchyroll and Livestream. The internet on any given day produces hundreds of thousands of pages of content, easily rivaling and surpassing the traditional publishing world in the amount of material produced. The collaborative aspect of the internet in which people are able to add their own ideas, assumptions and create their own content for public viewing has inevitably created a flood of user created content that surpasses current media trends in television making online collaboration and writing the norm rather than a rarity.
Unfortunately the overly dynamic and fluid nature of the internet has resulted in trends quickly appearing, disappearing, and falling in favor and out of favor with the online community. What this means is that the management of specific information systems such as those providing server platforms for websites and web based applications need to take into account the necessity to also remain dynamic and fluid in their methods of operations. Clients can come and go depending on the whims of the internet community and as such this requires server platform companies to adjust and predict what would be the best method of operations to ensure that they are able to provide the desired kinds of services for diverse clientele base. As such this paper will examine what the current trends in Web 2.0 consist of and what are the necessary operational infrastructures needed in order to facilitate flexibility in operational design and capacity.
Interconnectivity of Online Social Networking
It is an undisputed fact that online social networking websites such as Facebook, MySpace, Friendster and a variety of similar websites all receive a majority of the online traffic generated by users. Unfortunate as mentioned earlier internet trends come and go with social networking websites not being exempt from such a practice. Four years ago MySpace was among the highest rated internet sites in the world with millions of online users on a daily basis, today it has fallen in internet traffic rankings with sites such as Facebook and Twitter taking the lead in the sheer amount of users and visits.
The internet unfortunately does not work under a cyclical system where sites fall out of favor then become popular once again, rather websites that have started to lose a majority of their user generated traffic tend to shut down within a year or two after internet traffic to the site dies down. This is due to the fact that the server architecture needed to maintain sites such as MySpace has significant costs in terms of the amount of data utilized and the rate of users per day.
Most of these websites gain a majority of their income through online pay per click ads where the site generates income through user generated viewing of the various ads available on the site. Low user traffic inevitably results in low monthly generated incomes which affects the ability of the website to properly operate. What websites such as Facebook are attempting to do in order to prevent the site from suffering a similar fate has been to popularize the integration of the Facebook login system across various websites and services.
This enables users to effectively have one login for nearly hundreds of websites online. This of course helps to ensure the survival of Facebook since a users Facebook login becomes an integral part of their online viewing experience. Such a method of interconnectivity is not limited to Facebook alone but rather can be seen in other sites such as Twitter, Digg, Stumbleupon and Technorati where a growing trend can be seen in the integration of online social networking services onto various websites resulting in a transformation of how users utilize the services of various websites in conjunction with their social networking ids. Such a system creates a virtual online identity for a person wherein who they are online is inextricably linked to what social networking site they utilize.
Integration of Online E-commerce Services
When it comes to E-commerce the amount of profit that company makes off of a site is directly proportional to the amount of visitors that come to the site itself, the fewer visitors a site has the less likely it will be able to sell products (Colton, 5). Due to the sheer visitor saturation levels that Amazon.com has it is inevitable that as it continues to expand its product line other smaller online retailers will become eclipsed and instead of having a diverse number of sellers everything might lead to a consolidation of online food retailing into massive online market sites (Colton, 8).
This particular trend in online retailing is merely a repetition of what has happened in the realm of traditional food retailing today. Take for example the U.S., if a person were to visit it they would notice immediately that there is a distinct lack of small family owned grocery stores this is due to the fact that superstores such as Walmart, Costco, and Kmart have dominated the grocery retailing industry forcing small businesses to close down. In a process that has taken on the term Walmarting , large superstores such as Walmart build stores in locations that are saturated with smaller food retailers and attract customers due to their bigger selections and cheaper prices (Kim, 175).
The prices of products are actually intentionally lowered in order to attract customers away from smaller family owned grocery stores in a food retailers version of a war of attrition. In the case of Walmart it is able to keep prices down longer due to the sheer size of the corporation that can handle the temporary loss, smaller grocery chains unable to cope with the loss of customers eventually close their businesses, it only at this point that Walmart starts to raise the prices of its products back to regular levels (Kim, 175).
Such a trend can actually be seen online wherein the internet from it previous state of rampant expansion has entered into a period of consolidation where people have started to choose large email providers such as Yahoo! or Gmail instead of smaller email service companies (Laffey, 173). This trend has reached the online retailing industry resulting in an increasing amount of consolidation which eventually might lead to smaller online retailers disappearing in favor of larger websites with better branding and larger selections (Clemons, 15). As mentioned earlier this type of consolidation can also be seen in online social networking and is a continually expanding trend which apparently shuts out other potential players in the internet market from growing in favor of consolidation under a few well known internet companies.
What this means For the Management of Information Systems
The inherent problem with the growing integration and interconnectivity of various popular online websites is that it effectively shuts out the ability for other players to effectively enter the market. New sites do not have a chance of matching the branding and convenience afforded by popular online retail sites which in effect drastically reduced their ability to gain user traffic. With this in mind the future of internet activity will eventually reach a point where diversity has come to be replaced with convenience and popularity taking precedence over the possible loss of consumer choice.
For companies specifically dealing with providing services such as server space and online cloud computing this growing trend presents itself as a problem since it shuts out their clients ability to effectively enter markets which limits the type and extent of services that are being purchased. Popular online companies such as Amazon.com have also begun to diversify their operations leading them to become players in the online server market which further concentrates the usage of services towards a specific group of online companies.
This results in two possible avenues left to online companies either A) they attempt to integrate themselves into the growing integrated network of shared services spearheaded by Facebook and Amazon at the cost of a significant loss of control of operations yet ensures the survival of the company or B) innovate services so as to present an alternative to online consumers at the cost of initial profit yet having a higher rate of consumers. Several online server platform companies in Asia are actually attempting to do this by offering services at a far lower rate as compared to their integrated competitors however it has yet to be seen whether such a method of operation can last.
Works Cited
Clemons, E.. Business Models for Monetizing Internet Applications and Web Sites: Experience, Theory, and Predictions. Journal of Management Information Systems, 26(2), (2009). 15-41.
Colton, D., Roth, M., & Bearden, W.. Drivers of International E-Tail Performance: The Complexities of Orientations and Resources. Journal of International Marketing, 18(1), (2010) 1-22.
Kim, D., & Benbasat, I.. Trust-Assuring Arguments in B2C E-commerce: Impact of Content, Source, and Price on Trust. Journal of Management Information Systems, 26(3), (2009): 175-206. Retrieved from Business Source Premier database.
Laffey, D., & Gandy, A.. Comparison websites in UK retail financial services. Journal of Financial Services Marketing, 14(2), (2009): 173-186.
Shirky, Clay. Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age. New York: Penguin Press, 2010. eBook.
Zielinski, Dave. Whats New With Web 2.0?. Toastmaster 75.5 (2009): 8. MasterFILE Complete. EBSCO. Web.
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