This paper would focus its attention on this technological advancements, with particular reference to Web 2.0, its descriptions, properties and the evaluation of its impact on e-business using applicable examples, and finally look into the opportunities, benefits and risks it portrays on the e-business domain. The discussion would later on extends its focus on to what challenges this platform has faced, what could be done, thus the recommendations for this platform to best serve its intended purpose effectively and efficiently.
1.0 Introduction- Web 2.0
With a bunch of decades passing after each other, the technological advancements or developments has been characterised by very significant and vast shifts and inventions on various fields some of which web design and development is no exception. This has been a way or a tool through which the business fraternity has been embedded upon and made successful through the internet, and this is normally referred to as e-business. The evolution of some of these technical advancements with the primary objective to increase their selling and advertisement capacities has been made a success through the invention of a web platform known as Web 2.0. As earlier on stated, Web 2.0 can best be described as a web platform that has been in existence as one of the computer-technological advancements that has widely spreads its wings across the globe in the event of the millennium century. Chavan (2007) argued that "it is a web -based software which is collaboratively updated on a continuous basis. This means that the software has more utility when more people use it and also remix it". In addition or put simply overtime, Petrassi (2008) argues that "the web is now seen increasingly as a platform for innovation, interaction and as a service delivery mechanism. It has developed as a collaboration tool, meeting space, service portal, and strategic weapon, and companies ignore this market force at their own peril". Yamakani (2008) argued that "Web 2.0 has created a new hype-cycle since it was coined in 2004, it brought a wave of new discussions on current web development from a wide range of issues". This therefore briefly elicits some of the important traits of the platform in question that will be discussed later on in details. Although this innovation was through the mind of the think tanks in the likelihoods of Tim O'Reiily, this gained a vast world recognition and adoption.
2.0 Literature Review
2.1.0 Web 2.0 technologies
Major Catergies of Web 2.0 include the following: trading, media sharing, social networking, blogging, collaborative editing and wikis.Explanations are given below on each category.
2.1.1 Trading
The emergence of Web 2.0 has influenced trading in terms of buying and selling or exchanging through user transcations mediated by internet communication. Users are able to interact with internet sites to do buying and selling. This is easy because users have been empowered to interact with internet sites through books and music. Users can interact in sites such as, craigslist org, eBay .com, and couch surfing com, to purchase goods or sell their own goods. The introduction of web 2.0 has promoted personal trading. Personal trading has started to include more service-oriented opportunities such as accommodation or parking.
2.1.2 Media Sharing
Web 2.0 allows uploding and downloading media files for purposes of audience or exchange. Users empowered to download and upload to the internet were quick to sawp digital files of their music collections via centralised websites. While the fact that music sharing thrived on users copying of commercial material, photo-sharing (flickr) invloved user-generated content.Conversely, and video sharing that then emerged is a mixture of recycled film (TV) and homemade clips (You Tube). Other visual media which emerged popular for media sharing include slideshow presentations and sketches. Currently, there are various sites that exist to package the various shareable media creations of individuals. This has increased emphasis on rating and commentary from users.
2.1.3 Social networking
Web 2.0 has also come up with provision of services from website that structure social interaction between members who form subgroups of friends. The provision of such services have improved interaction which in the early days was based on dating agencies for principle match. The introduction of the recent sites organise real world meetings between. These meetings could include, Saturday breakfast (or simply based on tracking mobile phone location. Other sites brings members together because of friendship relations or because of business CV relations. Some of the sites which have emerged successful are the ones that allow users to create digital spaces into which they can invite 'friends' to share messages, texts, and videos and so on. Some of the sites have a special type of audience for example (facebook) which is student based. Some are media oriented for example (myspace) and some are for teenagers (bebo). Others create a social link based on users tagging their personal goals or declaring themed interests, for example politics or clubbing. Most of the social networking sites are shaped by the kind of aucidence. Tools exist for special interest groups to design their own socila network sites.
2.1.4 Blogging
This is web based service or journal in which a user can post text and digital material while others can comment. This web services offer users space to launch their own blog. Some encourage interaction around themed concerns and thus resemble social networking sites. They services also provide search engine for 'blogosphere' of blog posting. Some users favour shorter and more whimsical and multimedia postings (tumblr).micro-blogging sites allow only short entries. This can be from other devices such as phones and updates can be sent to selected other users (twitter).
2.1.5 Collaborative editing
These are web tools that are used collaboratively to design, construct and distribute some digital product. This can allows the users scattered across large distances to collaborate in making a single entity such as a film. This is done by centralising documents on a shared web server. A group of users may edit those documents rather than hold many individual copies. Most of structured sites allow for the production of collaborative artefacts such as novels.
2.1.6 Wikis
This is a web based service allowing users unrestricted access to create, edit and link pages. The Wiki construction process is best known through the public, collaborative enclopaedia wikipedia. Popular wiki are well established with educational emphasis (Wikiversity) or with material for more specialist interests. Some of the schools have made the wikis visible for their students. Different wikis exist with different purposes depending on the type of audiences or users. Types of wikis include wikitravel, television knowledge (tviv) and wikiversity. The wiki concept can be used by other users to design and maintain a personal organiser (tiddlywiki).
3.0 Impacts of Web 2.0 in e-business
The web use transformation has been asserted to a wide range of benefits, risks and opportunities that cannot be denied or ignored in today's technical business as they form the strongholds of such businesses. This section therefore would address some of the key issues pertaining to the above highlighted impacts of Web 2.0 into e-business, among which the opportunities provided by this platform would also be discussed as they are interrelated with these impacts as follows;
3.1Positive impacts of web 2.0
Customer Accessibility; through the establishment and integration of the network solutions within this platform, Web 2.0, the businesses have been able to reach more customers in various parts of the world, thus to say the e-business has through this establishment realised its global accessibility value or vision of their products and goods. This has acted as a business-customer barrier breaker of which before its invention, many business activities were seriously experiencing a dwindling performance and profit accrual. For example, the invention and introduction of search engines such as Eastbay, 4shared, Yahoo, Google, just to mention a few, has taken the world business up with a storm to new horizons, continents and across the whole world ensuring that people from these various parts can have access to order and buy or even own the products that in the past were enjoyed by the few individuals due to limited access. White (2007) held that through the Web 2.0 platform, in December 2006, the Wikipedia which is also part or an example of this platform, had 164,675,000 unique visitors, while in October 2006 more than 75, 000 Wikipedia's edited five or more articles. In this case these numbers doesn't only show how popular Wikipedia is but it is also a sign that it enjoys a wide and vast of audience who later on contribute significantly to its content. Another example of how Web 2.0 made business more accessesible as in terms of products are the now refurbished and ongoing car e-business between the developing world and the giant car manufacturers such as Japan and China, including the United Kingdom and the US.
Interaction; Web 2.0 has served as a linkage or a connecting channel for many individuals, institutions, states and businesses community all with business oriented objectives or values. Zheng et al (2008) held that "with the development of Web 2.0 and economics, social computing is deemed as a key role in integrating collectiveness of users to create values on web". This has made the execution and realisation of their business objectives an easy walk and survival in the desert. For example the use of web products such as face book, yahoo-chat, hotmail, badoo to mention a few, have made people from all over the world to come together, as friends, share common business ideas and strategies all that are essential for their business setups, goals implementation and profit. Hussain et al (2008) argued that "the development of internet and its integration with Web 2.0 has provided users with sophisticated technologies which ease the process of carrying out their activities. It has enabled the users to collaborate and interact seamlessly across various domains". This platform has given the business fraternity that opportunity to learn from other similar businesses on the better standards, quality products and also possible managerial ways to improve their businesses, and at the same time offering a competitive environment which is a key drive to improved service delivery and quality products.
Information sharing; this kind of an establishment is very critical in the business field and other relevant fields because through it a lot of information can be shared between individuals or populations and ideas simply developed and from various sources unlike when the system was just from one source. In other words the interaction of web pages in this platform has improved the quality and also quantity of the information that users, consumers or manufacturers need to improve on their purchase choices or products respectively. This has been enhanced by the fact that there is free flow of information and on the other hand people can rebate and or express their views without the fear that they will be classed or labelled in any negative way.
Improved profit or returns; Web 2.0 has given a room for many businesses to be set up without having to inject or pump in a lot of money for their set ups. This has been the case due to the fact that this establishment has allowed companies to deploy similar version of application that is accessed by all or a large number of users at a time hence no need to develop more systems, and by doing that it will be saving the costs that the companies were to incur in employing other systems or software. Hussain et al (2008) held that "the development and advancement of the internet has enabled the users to complete their tasks in less time and reducing the delays associated with the conventional methods of interactions. At the same time it has boosted their efficiency and has helped the businesses to improve their sales, productivity and economy". The fact that businesses are able to avoid some extra costs from employing other business systems or software applications, simply guarantees a benefit or business bonus on the part of those companies through less business financial input or expenditure.
Better marketing strategies; this platform has created a room for the development of blogs or through the act of blogging, where the web users (in this case also businesses) have had the chance to in the creation of the blogs even if they did not have the deeper technical know how necessary. Through these blogs, businesses have been able to advertise or market their products and even have more clients accessing their products, or put differently, the businesses were able to reach more customers within a short period of time.
4.0 Risks of Web 2.0 in e-business
Although Web 2.0 has over the past years emerged to be or as a useful platform for the benefit, growth and development of e-business, it has been proven beyond reasonable doubt that, it is through the same platform that e-business can face several blows that would or may hamper their proliferation as initially intended. The discussion below would try to argue the risks that this platform poses to the e-business fraternity e-businesses.
Cyber crime; since this platform allows the interaction and information sharing to the users, and also users can share, chat and discuss various issues through establishments such as face book, yahoo or twitter, this has given the criminals that chance to easily share on the ideas and plans they can swindle either the banking systems or government system especially through scam emails as it is currently known. These dubious plans are not limited to the banking businesses or government only, but they are open to other e-businesses, where the copyrights of various products can be interrupted or stolen by other businesses for example in the music business. A Sophos Security Threat Report (2009) held that "another worrying finding of the report is the huge increase in scare ware being encountered online. Cyber criminals are creating scam websites, offering fake, paid-for-antivirus protection, at an alarming rate. Sophos now discovers fifteen of such sites each day, a threefold increase over the same period in 2008". This is an authentication on how serious the problem of cybercrime has remained within the Web 2.0 platform.
Abuse; this establishment has open a door for abuse especially by customers and other users who interact in that accord as it offers, for example in chat rooms that have been established in these engines e.g yahoo chat, face book, there are instances whereby instead of users having to enjoy or use the products of these establishments as provided they tend to abuse them by communicating in vulgar language, insulting other users, or even not following the principles, rules and regulations of those establishments. In this regard, if the blog that has been developed involved the selling of some products such as chatting, it means the product ends up being hampered by this kind of behaviour and people would refrain from using or accessing it hence the business suffering or not doing well.
Distraction of the organisations' website true nature; when looking at cases where some organisations has set up some standards and principles for internet use or its programs' accessibility, thus by blocking access to certain information for the benefit of the organisation on the basis of privacy or productivity, it has been much appreciated that some users would employ anonymising proxies to trick the web filter so that they can access the blocked contents of that organisation's website. Therefore this kind of practice has led to a situation whereby the true nature of that website gets disguised and in turn it loses its originality and quality (Sophos Security Threat Report, 2009).
5.0 Lessons learnt and recommendations
It is clear that just like any other invention, Web 2.0 has stood the test of time and has been viewed as an icon that enabled or has enhanced e-business in several ways such as increasing product accessibility of various businesses across the world by various customers from all corners of the world, helped improve interaction and information sharing through which business objectives and running was made easier. Despite all these goodies that Web 2.0 has been known of, it has also faced a lot of criticisms that in this discussion are only limited to abuse of the web and cyber crime as they are the most disturbing ones as far as web development and use is concerned. It therefore necessarily follows that there should be ways devised to try and improve the situation as far as the risks mentioned above are concerned. The discussion below would try and address such ways or recommendations as follows;
Improve web monitoring; it would make more sense for the proliferation and success of e-business endeavours to be realised more effectively, only if there is improved web monitoring to guard against the unethical use of these platform. This would take into consideration issues of abuse and tracking all dubious dealings that the platform would be used as a channelling pipeline between the criminals.
Introduction of a regulatory and web overseeing board; there should be a regulatory and overseeing board that would regulate and instructs on the proper use of the web platform and ensure that he platform is used for the intended objectives and all other e-businesses that have aligned themselves in to criminal syndicates should face serious penalties or total expulsion from running their adverts online or so.
CONCLUSION
In a nutshell, Web 2.0 has remained a platform that has helped twist the capabilities of e-business fraternity over years now, through the improvement in the customer accessibility, facilitating users' interactions including businesses, and also saving costs that the business could have incurred by employing other systems or application necessary for improving their advertisement or day to day business activities. Although this platform has helped in this much, it has been criticised for the risks it poses to the same businesses such as exposure to cybercriminals, abuse and distractions to the nature of the organisations' website's nature due to the use of anonymising proxies. Therefore there is that need to have some tools put into place to guard against all these dubious and unethical practices that e-businesses might find themselves in, such as keeping track and monitoring this platform, and setting up a board that will oversee the use of this platform by various users and e-businesses hence ensuring a clean field of e-business proliferation.
