How Blogging 2.0 Is Changing the Quality Conversation

If you're not jumping on board the Web 2.0 revolution, you likely will begin the upcoming months. As more businesses and websites are making note of and embracing 2.0-driven technology, the quality and styles of blogs in particular are taking on new dimensions. When blogging first began to pick up speed, we saw the full range of personal, political, marketing-driven, and social networking sites chock full of opinions.

It was a pivotal time in Internet history where people could interact in a contextual framework of the blogging software of choice. For example, Google fans would likely pick Blogger; others may have chosen Wordpress, LiveJournal, or Typepad as their publishing platform. The key area that blogging software and tool sites didn't address was the ability to interact and create networks simultaneously. This is what successful social networking and business blogging sites are catering to now, but the initial blogs that were becoming popular in the Web 1.0 era were usually spin-offs of basic websites. They served as a virtual 'journal' of people's thoughts, random opinions, or small bytes of intelligent essays.

Today, Blogging 2.0 is developing under a new paradigm. We're seeing deeply embedded links, hyperlinks, videos, and even mashups of open-source software as bloggers become smarter, more efficient, and more web-savvy. This increase in participation can be attributed to how well a blogger promotes and links to other blogs; it's the networking model on a small-scale, and stronger writers tend to partner up with larger site such as Technorati, Digg.com, and others for mass appeal. When a site can include a user-generated rating system, or some format of a visual 'result' of content on a real-time basis, the appeal is enhanced even further.

The nature and quality of these blogging conversations occurring at this stage is a considerable shift in the social and business online networking spheres. Not only is content becoming more in-depth and noteworthy, it is allowing people to research and create fresh ideas, perspectives, and well-defined information. Even 'random' thoughts and opinions can be supported with an article or two, simply linking to the event, a paper written on the subject, or a clip of a seminar. The quality of the 'conversation' in today's blogs is much stronger, more controlled, and substantially more valuable than ever!

As an educational and learning tool, both educators and researchers can interact virtually with authors, industry leaders, and even decision makers in a particular field. What could be better than reviewing a Stanford professor's notes on a recent discovery, or a well-known web entrepreneur's articles and recommendations on the next wave of software developments? Blogging can be used constructively for many industries, and we are experiencing a shift in the utility and reputation of sharing online weblogs for a variety of purposes.

When blogging first began to make its way as an online activity, there were many that hesitated and considered it simply another ego-gratifying activity, similar to setting up a personal website. However, as businesses and industry leaders began to share company news, and groups learned to use blogs as a portal for 'insider' information, the trend and activity has quickly become a worthwhile opportunity for both research and entertainment.