Sharing is Caring

As we transition ourselves to new ways of acquiring information on the web through Enterprise 2.0 applications, we realize that the trend of finding information on the net has shifted from browsing to searching and then to sharing within a network of relationships. David Sacks’s blog explains how portal giants like MSN and AOL are experiencing declining pageviews because of their ancient browsing philosophies.

Web users are no longer interested in browsing the web; they want to be able to search what they are looking for and be able to subscribe to the ever-changing content via RSS feeds and news alerts. We are living in a user-generated era where web-savvy users want easy and fast access to information. Unlike Yahoo and AOL, Google’s platform makes it possible for this type of aggregation. Even though the iGoogle platform is fast-growing, it does have a potential flaw. David Sacks mentions:

“But iGoogle has a serious limitation: it doesn’t involve sharing; each user has to make an individual investment in set-up and can’t benefit from the work of others. It’s not really a Web 2.0 product.”



Lying on the other side of the spectrum is Facebook with its information sharing platform. Facebook’s developer platform makes it relatively effortless to access information on their network of friends and business contacts. While browsing and searching requires work, a web user can do nothing and receive a constantly streaming array of information tuned to their exact specifications. Where will this sharing application take Enterprise in the future when users want to learn about news instead of updates on their friends and contacts? Facebook and other portals clearly have their work cut out for them as the trend is constantly evolving.

Yahoo seems to be making the right move with its sight on Facebook, but will it take advantage of its sharing capabilities? Will Google finally launch its long awaited networking platform to keep up with Facebook? Even though its popularity has declined, browsing and searching will never go away. The portal that can utilize all three methods will most definitely remain on top…