When  Alex asked me to write a blog about “Web 2.0 and New Media for  business” I had to think firstly why me and then secondly what is it?  On  the first question Alex will always provoke thought from anyone that he  meets and he always speaks to the right people, yet it does still beg  the question why me?  After having a think about it for a couple of days and a bit of research I decided to write the blog.  What has been interesting is ever since I was asked to write the blog I start noticing more information about it.

What I thought I would do is to break it into 2 parts; what I have heard and what will this do for business.  Each  have their own distinctive groups today but as the technology and  companies start to fully realize the potential of the medium growth  will follow.

Living in Singapore gives you a different perspective on the APAC region from information you get from papers, TV and the Internet.  Last  night while watching the local news they talked about the regional  market and the changing dynamics of the internet user. A large part of  the article was on how Social networking sites and in large Web 2.0 has  changed the way the internet is being used.  The reason given was largely down to sites like Facebook and MySpace on a global scale.  However  what be clear was the lack of penetration into the Asian markets by  these sites as this is largely the domain of Friendster which has over  50 million plus members mostly from Asian with a large portion in China  and growing expediently.

Within  the business world there are also sites that cater for users of social  networking which is at a different level, but they are in reality  working on the same principle.  Over the years a  number of us have joined websites such as Plaxo Pulse and Linked-in to  keep in contact with old colleagues and to update people on our  progress within and outside an industry.

Evolution of the Internet has been quick and in some cases dirty.  What  will Web 2.0 do to revolutionizing the Internet and what will be the  drivers for companies to look at to not only increase profits but to  understand what it is consumers are looking for.

As  the Internet is evolving the evolution will become a more widespread  for interaction, communication, and activism. Consumers increasingly  want to engage on-line with one another and with organizations of all  kinds. Companies are tapping into this new mood of customer engagements  for their economic and mutual benefit.

Consumers are also co-creating with companies and other users.  An  example of this is online encyclopedia Wikipedia it could be viewed as  a either a service or product created by its distributed customers. But  the difference is the way co-creation with each type of partner is done.  One  way is with customers and the other are so marked that the consumer  side is really a separate trend. These differences can include the  nature and range of the interactions but there are management  challenges associated with them.

Companies  are involving their customers as well as Internet users in design,  testing, marketing, and the after-sales process gets better insights  into customer needs and behaviour which in the long run may be able to  cut the cost of acquiring customers, engender greater loyalty, and  speed up development cycles. But when the companies open to allowing  customers to help it innovate they must ensure that they are not unduly  influenced by information gleaned from a vocal minority. They must also  be wary of focusing on the immediate rather than longer-range needs of  customers and be careful to avoid raising and then failing to meet  their expectations.