Workshop Q&A

Tyrus Abram

Cisco Workshop

9/27/07

Pre-Work

Student participants are asked to answer the first four questions and then chose one of the two following questions.

Questions:

1) What does Web 2.0 mean to you?

Web 2.0 refers to the revolutionary developments and uses that integrate people as a whole via the internet. Such channels include, but are not limited to, social networking sites (facebook, myspace, linkedin, secondlife), as well as blogs, podcasts, and any other media sharing outlets that enable users to connect on multiple levels. Although Web 2.0 isn’t necessarily a variation of the internet, it is definitely the newer way of using it, and ultimately the next step towards communication integration with regards to networking.

2) What Web 2.0 technologies are you currently using and how do you use them? (Second Life, WebEx, Blogs, Social Networking, etc.)

Though I don’t use many Web 2.0 technologies, the few I do use, I use all too often. I spend way too much time “Facebooking”, “AIMing”, and I often read friends’ blogs but I rarely participate.

3) Which Web 2.0 technologies do you think have the greatest future potential?

To be honest, although there are THOUSANDS of users on at any given time of the day, I believe SecondLife is adopted mostly by the “gaming” market with few exceptions, (I could be wrong, would love to discuss). With Zuckerbergs’s generation and the following generations quickly becoming acclimated to facebook, I believe this site has a HUGE future. The same goes with youtube, and certain music sharing sites.

4 ) How do you get your news? Do you read a printed newspaper? TV? Radio? Online? Why?

I rarely read physical newspapers aside from The Santa Clara because it simply takes too much time. We are a generation that needs quick information and we have small attention spans. Even the radio isn’t stimulating enough. TV and Online are the easiest mediums to receive news.

Select One) How do you think that Viral Marketing fits (or should fit) into an overall Marketing plan?

Viral Marketing should be a PRIME element of any marketing plan for any company, offering any product or service to anyone, especially with the future in mind. The aforementioned holds true here more than anywhere. Adults talk on the phone, my parents barely know how to email, they watch the news, and go out to coffee with friends. That’s not going to be the way it is 30,20,10, 5 years from now, (at least not for huge target markets).

Viral Marketing includes the usage of Web 2.0 to get “our” attention. That’s like a group of friends standing around having a conversation, just hanging out. If a company/business/firm can have their word pre-implemented through the medium of an already established member in that circle (facebook, myspace, youtube), we’ll listen.