Web 1.0 started with the web in 1993 ended in 2004 when the term Web 2.0 started to get popular

Past and Future
1.0 – documents (1993-2003)
2.0 – interfaces (2004-2010)
3.0 – semantics (2011-2018)
4.0 – intelligence (2019-2024)

2 important dichotomies
technology vs culture
scarcity vs abundance

OK, this is technical, really, really technical – It went over my head… So I am trying to put down anything I can make sense of.

Multimedia is converging on many platforms but expecially moving to mobile devices.
Mobile allows more personal space – people are more likely to read more on their mobile than on the web

Core social media tools for publishing:

• blogs (publishing content)
• twitter (online discussions)
• flickr (picture uploads and sharing)
• youtube/zoopy (video uploads and sharing)
• facebook (social networking)

Core social media tools for reasearch

• google alerts (updates on terms you want information for)
• delicious (social bookmarking)
• technorati (real-time search for user-generated media)
• digg/muti (submit stories and voting determines relevance)

Key to success: total immersion – you need to immerse yourself in the culture and technology

Facebook, which has over 681 000 members, quickly became the most popular (most-accessed) social network site in the country, though it has been overtaken among younger users by MXit. Clearly, there’s a marketing opportunity.

One of the opportunities to get some insights into Social Media is the Tony Koenderman’s Cracking the Digital Code conference which kicks off today. In fact, it starts in just a few minutes.

I am here, as are most of the longtail team, and we are ready to take notes and blog about every little detail. So hold on to your seat.

About the first session
Stafford Masie will open this workshop with a scene-setting examination of the new media, followed by Vincent Maher’s discussion of how marketers can use social media. Ingrid Rubin wraps up the session by explaining the delicate question of how to manage your corporate reputation in a landscape where consumer generated content can make or break your brand.

Speakers and Topics on the menu

• The digital future is now – Stafford Masie of Google explains the threats, opportunities and relevance of digital media to South Africa
• Vincent Maher of Vodacom examines why social media has taken off – and how to use them for marketing
• How’s your online cred? – longtail founder Ingrid Rubin on Reputation Management