Archive notice: This article was originally published on July 30, 2007. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
In the battle for reach, the new Web 2.0 offerings represent a competitor to the established online media that must be taken seriously. And if one asks around among 14-29-year-old media consumers, the intensive use of Web 2.0 offerings has long come at the expense of classic media use of TV and newspaper.
Web 2.0 is therefore already changing the media landscape today. In the search for more authenticity and participation, weblogs and communities are increasingly tying up reach in Internet niches that until recently were still served by established media portals. This forces media companies to act. Whether through acquisitions or through the launch of their own initiatives – more and more media companies are currently rediscovering the community approach. As in the New Economy era, an intelligent linking of content and community is intended to tie up reach and exploit it better.
But this requires new approaches. Because the success of communities has long no longer lain only in the critical mass of users. Social networks such as XING, Facebook or Twitter show that the usefulness of the community only arises in initiating active networking among participants – e.g. via subgroup or special applications etc.
How media companies can solve and are already mastering these challenges is the subject of the Social Media FORUM on 20.09.2007 in Hamburg. Exclusive specialist presentations and experience reports discuss the new requirements and show initial approaches.
The following projects, among others, will be discussed as part of the event:
• Weblog network of Creative Weblogging Inc.
• Debatte.Welt-Online.de by Welt Online
• Tausendreporter.de by Stern
• Polylux.de by RBB Fernsehen
• Download.Chip.eu by Chip Xonio
Alongside those responsible for the projects listed above, Prof. Dr. Schengber of DSaF, Jörg Blumtritt of Burda Communications Network, Arnd Benninghof of Holtzbrinck eLab and Falk Lüke of Zeit Online will speak. The concluding discussion will be moderated, among others, by Olaf Kolbrück of Horizont Verlag.
As a supplement to the main event, the pre-conference WORKSHOP “User Generated Something” offers an additional highlight on the previous day. In cooperation with Knallgrau GmbH, the specific requirements for the conception and implementation of user-driven content creation and distribution concepts in different contexts will be discussed. The pre-conference is thus aimed not only at responsible people from media companies, but also from agencies.
