Should Web 2.0 Embrace Localization?

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After reading Bernard Sunn’s blog post, “Re-Localization Opportunities – Local 2.0”  I thought how can Web 2.0 developers incorporate local business owners into their 2.0 business models?  Believe it or not, a world still exists outside of the blogosphere or Twittersphere.  The Internet is mainstream, but there is still a market of millions of people and who prefer to shop local and fellowship in person rather than in cyberspace.

So the question is – How can web 2.0 developers reach those consumers?  By somehow targeting local business owners who cater to this market, developers have access to consumers who would normally be off the radar.

I commented on Bernard’s though-provoking post:

What a great post. I too found it thought provoking. I predict that we will see more and more Web 2.0 applications incorporate GPS (annotated tagging) in a way that will pull consumers out to local stores, shops, etc. For example, how can BrightKite take its annotated, geo-tagging application and localize it? How can they partner with local business owners, and bring value to them via their application and local BrightKite users? It will be interesting to watch this trend develop.

Should web application developers incorporate locailization into their business models?  Or should they continue to focus on the cyberspace for revenue generation?

Re-Localization Opportunities – Local 2.0 – ReadWriteWeb.

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Cloud Agents Bring Personalization for the User

ReadWriteWeb’s Sarah Perez blogged about a new Twitter app called Twitchboard in her blog post, The Rise of Cloud Agents.   The uniqueness of Twitchboard stems from its ability to tie together different services on the social web and automates their interactions.

What’s so fascinating to me is not the application Twitchboard, as I haven’t even tried it, but the concept ad ideal of the cloud agent.  Which is term that is ahybrid of two terms – cloud computing and intelligent agent.

After reading Tom Carroll’s comment on the post:

This is just another step toward the cognative economy. The services we see to day are providing the foundation of integrated behaviors. Eventually these cloud agents will mature from simple integration services to complex filters and autonomous extensions of our public persona.

I began to see Twitchboard for more than what is was and more for what it represeneted.  Here is my comment:

I haven’t tried Twitchboard. But, I wanted to comment because I don’t believe the hype is actually for the application (Twitchboard), than it is for the concept of the application – and what the future holds for social network’s connectivity and relevancy. I believe that Twitchboard and similar applications are headed in the direction of personalized service for the user. Service that is centered around context and the user and not the application or the social network. Only time will tell….

What do you think?  I think cloud agents will be a part of web 3.0 in a big way.  Not to say cloud agents Are web 3.0, but only that they will play a part in its functionality and relevance to the user.

What are your thoughts?

The Rise of Cloud Agents – ReadWriteWeb.

State of the Twittersphere – Q4 2008 Report

Hubspot has released its first-ever State of the Twitterspere report for Q4 2008.  The report summarizes the trends of Twitter users based on real data pulled from hundreds of thousands of Twitter profiles accessed through the reports generated by Twitter Grader.

I found that the report accurately reflects my Twitter profile.  For example, I currently have a Twitter grade of a 91, which based on the report, Twitter users with a score between 90-100 have an average of over 100 followers.  As of today, I have 169 followers and I’m following 180 people.

Are you on Twitter?  If not join today and connect with me.

Here is a link to the report: State of the Twittersphere – Q4 2008 Report.

The Concept Dependent Social Phenomenon of Tag Clouds

On his blog The Impressions Scholarcast, Micheal Rees reflects upon the use of tag clouds.  Michael suggests that tag clouds might someday replace business cards, or the abstract that precedes papers and documents.  In addition Martin Weller on his blog The Ed Techie: You are your (tag) cloud, advocates the idea that tag clouds are a part of our online identity.  Meaning, tag clouds are a direct reflection of our interests, and ideas.

From their posts I grappled with the concept of tag clouds, and how they can be labeled concept-dependent social phenomenon.  I find Andrew Sayers term quite interesting, so much so that I have written two posts on the subject –  How social networking sites are concept dependent social phenomenon, and Concept-Dependent Social Phenomenon journal articles.

Tag clouds are valued because of the emphasis bloggers, writers, search engines and web 2.0 applications put on the use of tags.  I like Wikipedia’s description of tags which is:

A tag is a non-hierarchical keyword or term assigned to a piece of information (such as an internet bookmark, digital image, or computer file). This kind of metadata helps describe an item and allows it to be found again by browsing or searching. Tags are chosen informally and personally by the item’s creator or by its viewer, depending on the system. On a website in which many users tag many items, this collection of tags becomes a folksonomy.  Tagging was popularized by websites associated with Web 2.0 and is an important feature of many Web 2.0 services.

Can tag clouds by the nature of their meaning to the websphere,  be considered a concept-dependent social phenomenon?  I’m interested to hear your thoughts and perspectives.

What’s Your Favorite Podcast?

ReadWriteWEb posted this great article, Favorite Podcasts of the ReadWriteWeb Community of readers and writers.  One of the more interesting podcasts tha stood out was : You Look Nice Today, “an audio-based Journal of Emotional Hygiene” – What?  What podcasts are you subscribed to?

One of my favorite podcasts that isn’t listed is HubSpot’s Inbound Marketing Podcast hosted by Mike Volpe and Karen Rubin. Hubspot’s podcast covers inbound marketing, social media, blogging, SEO, etc.  Check out a few of the podcasts below.

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