Thursday, 15, Nov 2007 09:46
The founder of online reference encyclopaedia Wikipedia, Jimmy Wales, has said that Web 2.0 technology on the internet is giving power back to the people with user generated content (UGC).
So called next-generation collaboration and social networking tools are also helping businesses to break down barriers in the corporate sector, he added.
Mr Wales told Computing: "We are already seeing a lot of use of wikis in the corporate environment for loose, quick collaboration. Social networking and Facebook itself is already used by a lot of people for business purposes, linking up with contacts they have at other companies.
"What is interesting about these sites is that they are a social phenomenon, so while they are not business tools in the traditional sense, they can serve that purpose in a casual way."
UGC allows a collaborative approach to business and has meant a lessening of the traditional flat corporate hierarchy.
The Wikipedia co-founder pointed to an example in the US retail sector where such an approach had benefited the likes of Best Buy.
He added: "Now store clerks are able to communicate with other sellers in the company without having to communicate up through the management chain.
