Australia and Web 2.0

I went to this great little lunch-time event today organised by Ross Dawson. It was held at the KPMG offices, was invite only (thanks Ross) and had a strong business focus. Over the next few days, I intend to write about some of the great web 2.0 businesses on display at the event but for now some random thoughts and ideas and facts that captured by notice:

• The Sensis representative pointed out that Australian corporates are very reluctant to expose their brands to review and comment etc. I think it goes deeper than that. I think their brands actively exclude the sort of participation and 'looseness' that typifies web 2.0. They may have to rethink their brands before they can move into a web 2.0 world.
• Someone else made the point that, over time, they (corporates) will have little choice because the under 30 generation is living participation and will just expect tags, comments etc.
• Again, to quote the Sensis guy (Chris Smith), its all about usage and usage of user generated content sites are growing much faster than traditional sites. (BTW Sensis are doing a lot of internal blogging)
• Ross said there was not a lot of content being created in Australia. I'm ambivalent about this. I think there is a huge amount of content but its just not attracting enough attention yet (which goes to broadband problems in Australia and a more conservative, authoritarian, culture here compared to the USA).
• There is huge media interest in data companies. Google buying feedburner etc. Advertisers want to be able to target consumers and they want to be able to understand who they are, what they do etc.

Comments

[Steven Lewis]

We're pitching social media all the time, as you know, and this question "What do I do when someone criticises my product?" is the first one asked every time. There seems to be a big lack of confidence in products from their makers!

I agree with the commentator who said that brands will have no choice. The data on social media use by the under-30s is compelling. Older consumers aren't that far behind in many areas, however. The Forrester social technographics research shows 48% of US adults are at least consuming peer-generated content, if not making it themselves.

And the average age of users/creators of social media tools is generally over 30.

The revolution is here :)

[Mark]

Hi Trevor,

Thanks for providing a brief summary of some of the comments that were made at the event (I didn't attend).

At a talk held at the Search Engine Room conference earlier this year, I recall a Sensis Yellow Pages exec describing the potential conflict that would arise if a user was to give a negative review of a listed business that happened to spend a significant amount advertising in Yellow Pages.

For this reason, he explained, there would not only be a conflict between Yellow Pages and the advertising business, but also within Yellow Pages; the needs of advertising division would clash with those responsible for maintaining user user generated content.

For some time now, users have been providing a significant amount of feedback on businesses through blogs, forums etc, but now this feedback is taking on more structure, companies are finally starting to sit up and take note.

Steven:

"What do I do when someone criticises my product?"

Spot on. Its definitely an educational process.Many businesses don't see the other side of the coin; the user is providing valuable feedback on their product/service (that the user may not have otherwise given through traditional means).

Cheers

Mark

http://www.raveaboutit.com.au