Web 2.0 in the Workplace

In the presentation today about using Web 2.0 in the workplace, I thought it was very interesting that when researching the use of Web 2.0, one of the first things you encounter is irony because even people who express negative opinions towards Web 2.0 technologies express their views through Web 2.0 technologies on the internet. Whether we like it or not, this enormous access to and use of Web 2.0 technologies is changing the ways we are doing things.

In my past internship experience, Web 2.0 technologies were not openly used. However, many of my co-workers invited me as a friend on facebook and made me feel like I was included. Facebook became a way for people to discuss their honest opinions about things going on at work. Also, it made work more fun.

During the same internship, I remember temporarily taking the place of a graphic designer who kept a very long list of links of places to go to find pictures for creating graphics. As the job switched between temporary employees and others, it would have been very helpful to have had that list of links online. Had I known about de.licio.us at that time, I think it would have been very useful.

The other day, I came across a really neat mind map of online collaboration tools offered through Web 2.0 technologies. My first reaction was excitement that someone attempted to figure out how to categorize and list all of the various methods of online collaboration. My second reaction was that I had never heard of most of the technologies listed.

In my own wanderings through the internet, I encountered a Firefox add-in called Glubble that allows families to create their own social networks, and that also creates a child-friendly version of the internet, allowing children and grandchildren of the same family to exchange favorite web pages, leave notes for one another, and draw pictures for each other. Although this is not an example of Web 2.0 in the workplace, it is an example of how the expanse of technology and the use of the internet is increasing and gaining interest for many different ages and cultures.