Editor's Note: Remember that if you're interested in SaaS or other Enterprise 2.0 issues, you can attend ebizQ's upcoming virtual conference. Sign up today.

If you haven’t heard of Web 2.0, you have no doubt heard one of the terms in the new lexicon it has spawned:  Social networks, blogs, wikis, RSS, mashups, Facebook, YouTube.  The older among us, those that weathered the dot.com years, might shrug off Web 2.0 as just the latest wave of Internet hype.  That’s a big mistake:  Web 2.0 is different, and it’s here to stay.  Web 2.0 has spread fast over the last few years among consumers -- statistics generated by Technorati show that there are more than 70 million blogs today and the number is growing.  The effects are already being felt in the workplace and organizations are struggling with how these new technologies lead to different expectations and behaviors in their staff which can be seen as risky.  Outright bans in the workplace are destined to fail, while organizations that embrace Web 2.0 can gain powerful new productivity and collaboration tools, and create deeper connections with customers and partners.  

Web 2.0 = Culture Shift

For the upcoming generation of the newly or soon-to-be employed, Web 2.0 technologies provide an important new way of communicating and sharing information.  Web 2.0 represents more than a change in technology, it is bringing a cultural shift in the way people work, collaborate and share knowledge.  A premium is placed on transparency.  The degree of transparency is controlled by the author ranging from complete free-flow of information to everyone, or moderated flow of information to a controlled group.  A sense of community and collective contributions is a hallmark of the Web 2.0 world.  Consider Wikipedia, which confounded its skeptics by demonstrating that a participatory approach to harnessing collective intelligence, combined with trust in others’ contributions and intentions, appropriately moderated, can produce one of the most reliable and comprehensive information resources.