Weekly Wrapup: Tim Berners-Lee Interview, Google Chrome OS, Social Network Stats, And More…
In this edition of the Weekly Wrapup, our newsletter summarizing the top stories of the week, we feature an in-depth interview with the inventor of the Web Tim Berners-Lee. We also cover and analyze the surprise announcement of a Chrome OS (Google’s new operating system for netbooks), investigate a raft of new statistics from social networks, analyze the impact of ‘freeconomics,’ and more. This week we soft-launched a new design for ReadWriteEnterprise, and you can check out our latest posts in that channel. We also update you with the latest from our channel ReadWriteStart, dedicated to profiling startups and entrepreneurs.
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Introducing the ReadWriteWeb Guide to Online Community Management
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Recently we released our first premium report: The ReadWriteWeb Guide to Online Community Management. It’s been in the works for more than four months and we believe it’s unlike anything else you’ve seen. Businesses seeking to engage with online communities on their own websites or all around the social web will find the guide invaluable in getting up to speed on the state of the art and making sure their employees have the foundation they need to be effective.
The end product is in two parts. Part one is a 75 page collection of case studies, advice and discussion concerning the most important issues in online community. Part two is a companion online aggregator that delivers the most-discussed articles each day written by experts on community management from around the web. The Guide is available for purchase at a price of $299. (You won’t be charged until you complete a few simple steps on that page.) You can download a free sample section of the report here.
Web Trends
ReadWriteWeb Interview With Tim Berners-Lee
During my recent trip to Boston, I had the opportunity to visit MIT. At the end of a long day of meetings with various MIT tech masterminds, I made my way to the funny shaped building where the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and its director Tim Berners-Lee work. Berners-Lee is of course the man who invented the World Wide Web 20 years ago. In Part 1 of the interview we cover the emergence of Linked Data and how it is being used now even by governments.
In Part 2 of the interview we discuss how previously reticent search engines like Google and Yahoo have begun to participate in the Semantic Web in 2009, user interfaces for browsing and using data, what Tim Berners-Lee thinks of new computational engine Wolfram Alpha, how e-commerce vendors are moving into the Linked Data world, and finally how the Internet of Things intersects with the Semantic Web.
Who Uses Social Networks and What Are They Like?
A new study by Anderson Analytics looks into the demographics and psychographics of social networking users on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and LinkedIn with a goal of providing marketers with information about users’ interests and buying habits as related to their network of choice. The end result is a detailed look at the profiles and habits of social networking users on the web today.
Some of the study’s findings echo things we’ve already heard. For example, Facebook users tend to be old, white, and rich. MySpace users are young…and fleeing. Other info is new: Twitterers are more likely to have a part-time job, LinkedIn users like to exercise and own more gadgets.
See also Part 2 of this post for details on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
How fickle are kids these days? Just when all the grown ups started figuring out Facebook, college and high school users have declined in absolute number by 20% and 15% respectively in a mere six months, according to estimates Facebook provides to advertisers that were archived for tracking by an outside firm. Facebook users aged 55 and over have skyrocketed from under 1 million to nearly six million in the same time period. There are more Facebook users over 55 years old today than there are high school students using the site.
Grandma and Grandpa showed up to have a conversation, but Billy and Sally were gone. Facebook cannot be excited about this.
Does Twitter Deserve a Nobel Peace Prize? Maybe Not Yet, But It Could Someday
It’s hard to imagine anything more far out than the suggestion that the founders of Twitter be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, especially since the people who invented the internet never were. But that’s what Deputy National Security Advisor, Mark Pfeifle, argues this week in The Christian Science Monitor, because of the company’s role in supporting the ongoing uprising in Iran. Pfeifle isn’t the only one making this argument, either.
I think the idea is serious enough to warrant some closer consideration. I think those little narcissistic bites of information and the platform people publish them on are serious enough to warrant taking this opportunity to consider what it all really means. You might assume that these most recent platitudes are just about Twitter’s celebrated role in Iran - but in fact there’s a lot more going on. Twitter is changing the human experience in important ways, for those fortunate enough to experience it.
Free: It Works, It Cries, It Bites
Chris Anderson’s new book, Free: The Future of a Radical Price (available for free in text form and as an audio book), is stirring controversy and a spicy conversation around the blogosphere. The current wave of discussion started with a critical review by Malcolm Gladwell in the New Yorker. In his review, Gladwell defends journalism and goes negative on “Free.” Seth Godin, who till then had stayed out of the debate, penned an instantly classic Godin post titled “Malcolm is wrong.”
Mike Masnick followed on TechDirt with an insightful post in which he attributes some of Gladwell’s confusion to the way that Anderson wrote the book. Masnick says that the book does not provide enough details on the mechanics and applications of Free. (I haven’t read the book, so I can’t comment on that.) Fred Wilson joined the conversation with a sharply delivered post on Freemium and Freeconomics. He gives examples of the kinds of Free that actually work.
SEE MORE WEB TRENDS COVERAGE IN OUR TRENDS CATEGORY
A Word from Our Sponsors
We’d like to thank ReadWriteWeb’s sponsors, without whom we couldn’t bring you all these stories every week!
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- SiSense, Analytics, Reports and Filters
- Mollom, stop comment spam and build your community.
- Crowd Science gives you detailed visitor demographics.
- hakia is a semantic search engine.
- Rackspace provides dedicated server hosting.
- Socialtext brings you 5 Best Practices for Enterprise Collaboration Success
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- Wix, stunning Flash Websites for Free
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- SixApart provides our publishing software MT4.
ReadWriteEnterprise
Our channel devoted to ‘enterprise 2.0′ and using social software inside organizations. Sponsored by Socialtext.
Smibs Could Rival Both LinkedIn & Salesforce.com
After being in beta for a year, Smibs has launched their SaaS business software into full production mode. The initial series of applications, with more planned for the future, include a Web-based CRM called Doorbell, and the Smibs Network, a business networking service. LinkedIn has largely wasted its potential to be anything other than personal promotion, and Salesforce.com CRM focuses almost solely on internal collaboration. While it has a long way to go to truly compete with either, the way that Smibs bridges the gap between public business networking and in-group workflows makes it a serious future contender.
John Hagel Interview: Implications of the Shift Index for Enterprises
John Hagel, perhaps best known for his book The Only Sustainable Edge, has been one of the leading strategic thinkers for decades. Recently, as Co-Chair of the Deloitte Center for the Edge, he unveiled the Shift Index. This is a fascinating way to look at the economy and goes well beyond the traditional GDP and employment measures. Have a strong cup of coffee before reading or listening to this interview. This is important for enterprises as they think about the big picture related to social media, changing demographics, and increased global competition. It is also valuable for enterprise software vendors as they seek to articulate the value of their products to these clients.
ReadWriteStart
Our channel ReadWriteStart, sponsored by Microsoft BizSpark, is dedicated to profiling startups and entrepreneurs.
Six Reasons to Stick with Your Startup: Survival Stories from the Trenches
Starting a new tech company is a labor of love. Particularly in the beginning, when funds are low, expectations are high, and the product is still a twinkle in the developer’s eye, stressful situations under external pressures can lead to pull-the-plug moments.
When we interviewed Pandora founder Tim Westergren last week, he shared his personal brush with startup death: In 2007, it seemed that the music-streaming site would have to declare bankruptcy and close shop. Pandora’s success is one reason to stick with your own startup. Here are six more.
SEE MORE STARTUPS COVERAGE IN OUR READWRITESTART CHANNEL
Tags: advertising, android, enterprise, facebook, firefox, google, marketing, microsoft, myspace, politics, privacy, readwriteenterprise, readwritestart, readwriteweb, security, trends, twitter, wikipedia, youtube
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