During the past 5 years social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook have taken the internet world by storm and have eclipsed plenty of older websites like Yahoo by managing to add more than a hundred million users to their subscriber base in record time. Some technical analysts have dubbed the phenomena as the rise of the second internet.
Few limitations of traditional internet:
Normal internet sites are a bit rigid in their structure and don’t offer much by way of a personalized experience. Their structured content is usually designed keeping the preferences of the majority of their target audience in mind. This can limit traditional websites from expanding their reach.
Key reasons for the rise and success of the second internet:
Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter have been very successful in tapping the vast unlimited potential of the social web. The informal nature of these sites encourages users to shed all inhibitions and interact with other site members and is a key reason for social media managing to draw hundreds of millions of net users in their fold. They offer unlimited scope to users to customize content according to their needs. The launch of thousands of Facebook applications has turned out to be a master stroke since it allows companies and ordinary users to tailor content in just about any way. The USP of social sites is that each and every user is guaranteed a personalized experience, something no traditional website can hope to match. Some social sites have an open source structure which allows online developers to add value to the website by removing glitches and adding interesting new features.
The way ahead:
Although it’s fiendishly difficult to forecast future it’s a pretty safe bet to suggest that Facebook and Twitter will continue their relentless forward march in the foreseeable future. Facebook’s market capitalization is set to multiply more than 3 times within the next 3 years. However it’s extremely important that successful companies constantly innovate and stay ahead of their competitor’s since tables can turn very fast due to the user’s rapidly changing preferences. Firms must strive to accurately guess future trends and anticipate changing user demands.
Key threats:
The companies identified as the “Second Internet” face many challenges which are completely unique to the online world. Present success doesn’t guarantee future survival in any way due to the rapidly changing nature of the World Wide Web. It’s quite possible that some of the most successful second internet companies can drastically lose their market share within a very short span of time to a new entrant, a process which can take years in traditional industries. The most unpredictable threat is of course the rise of a completely new online fad which can eclipse the current ruling online deity of social networking. It might not be very easy then for a currently successful company to match the new trend and radically transform their existing business model.
Conclusion:
The second internet has completely revolutionized the way people interact with each other. It has given birth to a radical new business model which has garnered a large share of the online advertisement pie in a short span of time.
About The Author : Kate is a writer. She loves writing, travelling and playing. Recently she did an article on internet speed. These days she is busy to write an article on future of internet.
