social networking – Page 2

When I first launched this blog some seven-plus years ago, one of the taxonomy categories I created was called web 2.0.

In those days, the phrase had currency. It referred to the fandangled new (at the time) way of using the web — a move from static billboards to more dynamic approaches of communicating online. It referred to the web as participation platform. It had to do with blogging, sharing and social media.

But web 2.0’s time has passed. Nowadays, saying something is “web 2.0” is as archaic as calling a YouTube video a “moving picture” or referring to automobiles “horseless carriages.” As TechCrunch pointed out in a December 2012 piece, “Nobody says ‘Web 2.0’ anymore.”

And yet the “web 2.0” category on my blog remains. For months now, I’ve thought about killing it off. (I never have used the term precisely, anyway.) But I haven’t done it yet. Because, as that TechCrunch article also points out, the phrase used to mean something.

I do plan to stop tagging posts with that phrase. (This will be the last one. Unless for some reason I need to resurrect the tag for a future post.)

But for now, “web 2.0” will remain as a category on this blog, if only for archival purposes and in recognition of all the phrase once stood for.

Image via bensheldon on Flickr.

Facebook’s announcement on Tuesday of a new feature that lets users search for information that has been shared with them could be good news for college and university Facebook pages.

At the least, the new function should give us a reason to keep our Facebook sites updated with fresh content.

Called Graph Search, the new search feature was introduced Tuesday in limited preview, or beta. Facebook’s announcement of the tool notes: “If you have a Page on Facebook, Graph Search can make it easier for people to discover and learn more about your business.” PR Daily’s coverage of the news suggests that the more brands update their Facebook pages, the more likely their content will appear in a person’s Graph Search results.

“It appears Facebook is making a push to further encourage brands to invest in cultivating relationships with their fans online; the more popular the page, the more often it will show up in search,” writes PR Daily’s Michael Sebastian.

Perhaps most important — for all of us, not just brands — is that with this development, “Facebook finally has a search technology that works,” writes Adrian Covert in CNNMoney’s coverage of the announcement.

I haven’t had a chance to investigate Graph Search yet, but it sounds like it could help brands extend their reach within the Facebook universe. That is, if brands use the tool in the right way. Keeping content fresh and relevant on Facebook will be important. Those brands that ignore their Facebook content could find themselves ignored by users who Graph Search for information on their friends.