This is why I am in Web Marketing – Bet you didn’t know this!

Does "Web 2.0" mean anything? Till recently I thought it didn’t, but the truth turns out to be more complicated. Originally, yes, it was meaningless. Now it seems to have acquired a meaning. And yet those who dislike the term are probably right, because if it means different to everyone.

To a small business owner, it means a way to get his word out. To a consumer, it means a platform to research and express their concerns. To a marketer, it provides a way to figure out what the audience thinks of him or her. From social perspective, the always-on connected state allows us to feel like a community. In my opinion, we are going back to our tribal roots. We are forming communities where none existed before.

I first heard the phrase "Web 2.0" in the name of the Web 2.0 conference in 2004. At the time it was supposed to mean using "the web as a platform," which I took to refer to web-based applications. Now the term is getting replaced by the social web. Web 2.5 in my opinion will be based on unification of all ‘social spaces’ into one platform.

I also imagine that Web 3.0 will be focused on development of tools that allow better utilization of the enormous unique data that is out here on the web into usable, credible and practical format. IBM’s Research Labs are already working on this as you read this. As I have previously mentioned , there is too much noise on the "social/web 2.0" platforms and we need a way to filter it while allowing everyone an equal voice. Ofcourse, the traditional manner to filter noise is to only follow the most popular streams, but it comes at an expense of ignoring equally viable and qualitative streams that are not mainstream or web manupliated yet (via spam, SEO, SEM etc).

What do you think will be the future of web marketing? What can Lotus 2.5 do for you?