WHY Web 2.0? Why?

I'm all about faking it 'til you make it. This is part of why I'm here though. I have got to figure out how to advise people on what they should do to get attention, drive action and manage their crises. That's my job as PR Director (cue wind machine, and me tossing my hair while dressed impeccably withOUT schmutz from the children on my suit jacket shoulder). We just had a meeting on that very thing, and here's my first stab (outloud anyway) at what this whole big old web 2.0 thing means to me and my clients...

Blogs are really the essence of what Web 2.0 is, and I hear tell that Google LOVES blogs. But if my blog or a company blog is going to get anywhere and DO anything, it needs to be authorative, right? I just learned that to be authoritative you must give good link back and have lots of Google juice.

If those terms sound vaguely pornographic to you, don’t worry. They're not! Here’s my interpretation – having a successful blog is like being socially successful. First, you must listen. Listen to your readers comments and then respond to them in a meaningful way. You can't respond as if you were actually carrying on a different conversation, one with a person not there, or someone you'd rather talk to. That's just rude! And far too common come to think of it.

Second, if you know your friends would love each other, bring them together! So with a blog you can connect and link to other blogs or people or products.

And of course, bring the conversation back to YOU (or your Web site or product). And finally, it's always good to be buzzed about. You want people to talk about you/your message/your product to each other. That is what the blogosphere is about, right?

Here is a good place to learn from someone actually in the know. And here too.