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I have come to avoid talking about this stuff with people. The first question anyone asks me is “what is Web 2.0?” Unfortunately for the ensuing conversation, it’s a little tricky to provide a straight answer. Every time you find a neat expression for summing the whole Web 2.0 thing up, I immediately think of an exception, or three, or ways that the definition doesn’t really get us anywhere.

In the list that follows, I’ve taken a lot of these characteristics or definitions from Tim O’Reilly’s What is Web 2.0?, and also Paul Graham’s Web 2.0 and Jason Fried’s user survey about the term.

1. The wisdom of crowds: We’re thinking here of things like digg that harness collective judgements to decide the importance of news stories. People talk about the power of ‘network effects’ when they’re keen on this definition. Google Search works like this by using the number and quality of inbound links to decide a page’s importance. But the whole idea does not apply to Google Maps, or any of the other Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) crowd e.g. Basecamp, Writely, 30boxes, etc., which are nonetheless thought of as being Web 2.0. Nor does it apply to social networks that are just about developing and maintaining friendships, like MySpace, though they do benefit from network effects, of course.

Lanjut →

Online world Second Life is to have its own business magazine, SL Business. A flurry of magazines have been launched around ebay to cater to those wishing to create their own business around the auction site. In a similar way, members of the Second Life community are keen to join the likes of Anshe Chung, who reputedly earns in excess of $150,000 a year from her virtual real estate business. The magazine is to be published in PDF format and will sell advertising at a rate of L$2950 for a full page. That’s around $11 back here in ‘meatworld’.

Have you been looking for centralized, up-to-date Second Life business info and spent forever asking complete strangers "How to" and "Where can I" type questions? Only to be left with half-baked answers or out-of-date information that is yesterdays news?

Have you been searching for the right tools to start your Second Life business idea or just looking to network with professionals? How about investment opportunities or tips on land developing? Ever wanted to meet and learn from seasoned professionals in a relaxed environment or just casually chat about business with a group of like minded people?

Have you ever wanted to hear stories from some of Second Life’s successful business owners in a way only they can tell it?

You can with SL Business Magazine!

Via 3PointD