CS299 and Web 2.0: A look back

Well, the end of the semester is here and so is CS299 and the formal learning of Web 2.0 strategies, theory, and discovery of some really cool 2.0-ish sites. But thanks to the database-driven 2.0 era of the Web, I can go back and reread through the course and review everything posted, blogged, video-recorded, and whatnot whenever I want (because I totally will be doing that instead of going to the beach or enjoying the physical world for a little bit this summer). Anyways, the pilot ride of CS299 and learning the ins and outs of Web 2.0 has been an interesting ride, and the ideas surrounding the whole Web 2.0 concept have really given me a bigger perspective on its impact in business and society.

The one big “take-home” message from this study of Web 2.0 technology and movment would be this: the impact of computer and mobile Internet connectivity has increased the power of the individual (through personal networking and voice), but has also decreased the independence of the individual. By this I mean every person that connect to the Web automatically has in their lap or hand the power to deliver and respond to information that not too long ago never would have reached him or her, nevermind inspire something to be done in response or creation of that information. However, we as a society are becomining so dependent on the technology to tell us how to intereact, live, and learn that I feel the basica practices of social interaction and business are being lost. Perhaps that is good in a way, cutting down in the beaurocracy and inefficiencies that went with less-technology business practices 10-20 years ago. However, is the Blackberry that corporate executives have physically installed to their hand worth the social impacts their distracted presence now creates in the office? Are the computer-dependent managers able to respond to employees and customers without having to look up the appropriate response in a company online knowledgebase but have inherently, like they used to, the knowledge in their head from basic experience? These are the types of questions that learning Web 2.0 technology has brought up for me, while learning the also the positive attributes attached like the impact of an online audience, borderless communication, and network effects.

Overall, Web 2.0 is here to stay, and learning to adapt to the technology while not losing what is essential to business and social interaction is the key to making a good and efficient transition to the technology-based society of today and the future.

Dan Schwabel on SEO response (Assignment #4)

Well, here comes another acrononym among the thousands in the IT field: SEO. So, what does SEO stand for? Answer: Search Engine Optimization. Why do you care? Answer: If you have a blog or website and know enough about the power of Google you should, simple as that.

 

From a recent presentation by Dan Schwabel at Bentley University, the importance of SEO became all the more evident, not only for large organizations and groups but for the individual as well. Schwabel says SEO is the “result of creating content online and optimizing profiles and social networking.” Do you know what your name yields in Google? Well, apparently mine is attributed to another person who is a Chief Media Officer, go figure, who OWNS the first page and a half of resutls, while my Twitter profile gets stuck on the second page, hidden from any normal Googler. Dan made a point in the power of personal branding and its importance and tie to SEO.

SEO is used for two main purposes, as Dan points out: get sources for stories (the press) and answer purchasing questions (potential customers). There are also two different ways to show up in Google or the search engines: paid or natural search results. Natural results are determined by SEO strategies, like meta tags, “keyword density (3-5%), frequency, proximity, adn prominance (h1, h2, etc.)”, as well as page freshness, site traffic, page contents, and backlinking. Schwabel also went over have internal linking is important as it increases the rank of all pages within the site, and is in a way “pages supporting pages.”

 One are of SEO that I think would have been worth mentioning by Dan would have been teh Black Hat v. White Hat practices and the effect of Black Hat uses on a site’s future ranking in Google. Black Hat SEO was once used often by sites to temporarily increase their sites ranking by tricking the GoogleBot by including hidden content that was entirely made up of keywords and link farms that are all White Hat-based SEO practices, but were being used manipulatively. However, Google, Yahoo, and other search engines have been able to combat and even penalize Black Hat SEO tricksters and the practice is not as popular as it once was. It would be interesting to find out what the effect would be on a site that once used Black Hat when it was viable and search engines weren’t able to combat it as effectively as they do now.

Overall, the SEO presentation was a great introduction ot basic SEO practices adn how to formalize your social media profiles to show up high in ranking so employers and friends and contacts can easily find you without even knowing you. Now i just have to bid on my domain name adn get my 10 or so online social profiles to dominate over that other Sean Finnegan so I can perhap get a job out of it!

 

FYI

Link to Dan Schwabel Presentation video

 

 

 

 

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