I posted the following this morning on my NewsNosh blog. I think it's relevant here as well:

I've been thinking a lot about Web 2.0 recently, particularly given all the excitement and discussion about sites like MySpace, digg, Facebook, YouTube, etc. The common perception seems to be that Web. 2.0 and social media are only for young people.

"I'm too old for social media," media writer Michael Wolff said in a recent post by Valleywag.

I just don't buy this.

Certainly, young people tend to be early adopters of technology, and they have quickly embraced many Web 2.0/social media sites and applications. But many of these same approaches to the online world can be just as relevant -- even more relevant -- to businesspeople and those of us with some gray in our hair. (Note strategic use of the word "some.")

NewsNosh, for example, is a Web 2.0 and social media site. Members can submit material (news sources, blog posts, forum topics) and participate in a growing community of individuals interested in online business news. There are RSS feeds to literally bring NewsNosh to its members. See, Web 2.0.

This trend doesn't begin and end with NewsNosh. There are lots of Web 2.0 sites and applications that are relevant to business -- and can make the way we all work much better and more efficient.

• RSS readers -- like my favorite, Google Reader -- allow us all to read blogs, listen to podcasts and follow news sites far, far faster and more efficiently than trolling from site to site.
• Online word processors like Google Docs & Spreadsheets (formerly Writely) and Zoho Writer allow us to share documents and edit/track changes together. Since the documents and applications are stored online, they can be edited from anywhere.
• Wiki applications such as stikipad and pbwiki let us easily set up collaboration sites where we can pick and choose who sees our information (via logins) and share/edit the information. This is great for companies with multiple offices. Simple applicaton: Share a to-do list and project status page with your colleagues.
• Social bookmarking services such as del.icio.us are a wonderful way to keep track of important sites and posts and share them with others.

One of the really nice things about Web 2.0 is these applications and sites tend to either be free or very low-cost, particularly from a business perspective. The declining cost of bandwidth and availability of open-source (free) software make this all possible. So Web 2.0 can be a big, big advantage for small businesses without huge IT budgets.

I've found the best way to learn how to use these sites is to just sign up for the free version -- there's usually at least free/premium pricing, if not free access altogether -- and play with it. Applications for your business will suggest themselves.

And, importantly, don't be suckered into feeling like you need to be 22 years old to use these things. You don't.

Technorati tags: web2.0, newsnosh, social media