Web 2.0: Already under your nose

Still trying to figure out what the heck I'm talking about when I refer to Web 2.0? As someone so eleoquently put it in last month's TechSoup Web2.0 event:

Web 1.0 = oooh, look...it's a picture of my dog that I put on the Internet with a caption underneath and I learned enough HTML to do this.

Web 2.0 = oooh, look...I can put a picture of my dog on the Internet using a web application so I don't need to know the code to do so, I can tag it so people interested in dogs can find it and leave their input about it, I can link my picture with a web forum that has information about dogs that other people may want to read about.

And I've slowly been adding Web 2.0 tools to this blog for months now. (Of course, if you're reading this via an RSS feed, a) you don't see the things I'm talking about, b) "RSS feed"? - you're already ahead of the game).

Blogging: Well, if you're reading this, then you're already seeing the benefit of the most ubiquitous Web 2.0 tool - blogs. Going back to the description above (and my previous description), I don't have to learn any HTML to be able to post information on this blog. Certainly, this blog is more of a meandering series of comments and observations - but that's just one way to use a blog.

Aggregating and tagging URLs: Del.icio.us is a website / tool that allows me (after I've registered) to "bookmark" URLs, and add a description and tag ("category") of my choosing to any of these URLs. I've been collecting URLs of things important to me (personal and work wise); and I can share them with you, as I have done in my series of links to the right of the blog (above the photos). I just added a "blog" tag for arts orgs that are using blogs to discuss their process. Remember, this is "live" - so any time I add something new in Del.icio.us, it shows up at the top of the list when you click the Del.icio.us link.

Tagging and sharing photos: Flicikr is an online site / tool that allows you to upload photos, create sets, tag ("categorize") photos and share them with - well, anybody. While I don't have a Flickr account myself, I can stll use this tool to display the most recent three pictures that a) have been uploaded to the Flickr site, b) and are tagged with "theatre". That's what those pictures are to the right of the bog.

There are others out there, from Upcoming.org to Wikis, but I just wanted to point out that the world of Web 2.0 is really not that far away. And that's the point. For some more examples of what nonprofits are doing with Web2.0, check out the NetSquared portal.