Midlife women in general are not as web and tech savvy as some other groups.  It is true that keeping up with the newest trends may not be interesting and may even seem irrelevant to most of us.  But the fact is, trends like blogging, social networking, and other Web 2.0 phenomena will impact you personally and professionallymore profoundly in the coming years.

Understanding what they are and their implications can help you buck the stereotype of the older worker who is behind the times.  Besides, think how impressed your teenager will be when you discuss knowledgeably the latest Web 2.0 tools!  

Computers, cell phones, and ipods are all complicated enough to use for most of us midlifers, but  I would argue that all the new buzzwords associated with the technology are equally, if not more, confusing.  Facebook, MySpace, Angie’s List, YouTube, blogs  Whahhh….what are they and why should I care? you could easily be asking.

Why?  Because it’s where the world is headed, and at some point, it will be trickling down to affect you in a big way.  Can you remember a time when you didn’t shop on the web?  Or, you didn’t Google something you wanted to know about?  There you are.

Now that I have your attention,  Facebook and the rest are examples of something you may have heard referred to on the news, in the papers, or in cyberspace as “Web 2.0.”  

Wait a minute, you might be thinking, I didn’t get the memo on Web 1.0!

Not to worry.   In actuality, Web 2.0 refers more to how people are now using the internet, and the tools available to them,  rather than a new kind of internet. Facebook and the others are part of this change.

What was Web 1.0?

Web 1.0 refers to when the internet started becoming popular in the mid-1990s, and websites were mainly found in a “viewing only” format.  You could create a website glorifying your favorite cat, or your favorite quilting patterns but users could only visit the sites and sit in awe of how cute your cat was wearing a hat or how beautiful your Jacob’s Ladder was.  There wasn’t a way for others to discuss your cat or your quilt. The Web really only worked one direction, outward to the user.

So, then what is Web 2.0?

If you think of cyberspace as a kind of big city, Facebook, My Space, and LinkedIn are the coffee shops, churches, business events, and entertainment venues we’re all familiar with.  These are places where people with similar interests can find each other, hang out, talk about things they’re interested in, network to find jobs, and share information that helps them out,  The web is simply becoming a virtual community that tries to reflect what we humans do in real life.

Web 2.0 has been defined by the British Guardian newspaper as “an idea in people's heads rather than a reality. It’s actually an idea that the reciprocity between the user and the provider is what's emphasized. In other words, genuine interactivity, if you like, simply because people can upload as well as download.”  

More simply, Web 2.0 means communication is now multi-way, from Web to the user, from user to the Web, and user to user.  That’s why it’s called the Web!   People can now discuss in a forum or comment on a page about their cat or their quilt.  Users can share information with providers of the website as well as with other users of the website.  

Pretty powerful, eh?  

What all does Web 2.0 encompass?

Web 2.0 includes forums, comment pages, blogs and anywhere that you can post items (i.e. pictures and music) or download items.   Web 2.0 encompasses anything that allows the user to be creative or interact rather than passively view.

What is the Web 2.0 Big Picture?

It represents the democratization of the Internet.  It means that we all have a voice.  Information is no longer delivered only by ‘experts’ who talk at us from their book, or their newspaper, or their TV show.  It means we can voice our opinion on things.  

Witness the way it has changed politics.  Web 2.0 allows grass roots movements because people can talk amongst themselves on the Internet.  Before, we were all limited to talking to our neighbors and work colleagues.  No more, we can talk to anyone anywhere in the world.  That is a fundamental shift in the way we think about and form relationships.

That’s why Web 2.0 is a development that midlife women need to know about.  Most of us will be around for another 30 or 40 years.  So the effects of these changes are likely to make a profound impact on us both personally and professionally.

What does this mean for me?

If you want to stay relevant in a workplace filled with people 20 and more years younger than you, if you have a business or services you want to market, or you just want to understand your teenager better, you need to know how these things are changing the way people work and play.

On the professional front, businesses are now scrambling to figure out how to deepen their relationships with their customers using blogs, forums and user groups.  They are using these Web 2.0 tools to allow their customers to put in their two cents’ worth on products and services.  That means your company may be adding these capabilities.  Keeping up with these changes means you’re adding value to your organization, rather than being regarded as behind the times, or not tech savvy.

It means you can easily find other people with the same interests, hobbies, health issues, and experiences as you on social networking and community sites like Facebook and WomenBloom.  These sites are on the rise.  According to NetRatings, Inc, as of May 2006, 45 percent of internet users are affiliated with some sort of social networking site.  Between April 2005 and April 2006, MySpace (the number one ranking social networking site) experienced a 367% increase in users – from 8,210 users to 38,359 users.

If you or a loved one has a difficult health issue (Chronic Fatigue, Autism, Lou Gehrigs’, for example), you can find others and learn from them about resources and information that you would never have been able to find before.  You can share what you know and help someone else find what they need to deal with their issue.

If you are trying to build your business, promote your book, or find a job, Web 2.0 enables you to market yourself in ways you never dreamed possible.  The possibilities for extending your reach in almost every part of your life and work are almost limitless.

Web 2.0 may seem intimidating, or even irrelevant, but it is like shopping online used to be.  It is fast becoming the norm, and those who aren’t familiar with it can soon be left behind.  You don’t have to take up blogging to learn about it – just taking a look at some of these sites and doing a little reading can easily develop your Web 2.0 smarts! 

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