Is the Pinoy ready for Web 2.0?

In the past weeks, we’ve been talking with Kevin of Pandora Squared about the potential of Web 2.0 for the Pinoy.

He sums it up into 7 key points:

It is both reflective and forward looking. It is a quantification what has already been successful on the Web, and what will drive success going forward on the Web.
Web 2.0 isnâ€™t about technology. It’s about understanding fundamental changes and innovations in interaction models, work models and business models that, in many cases, are only possible on the Web.
Web 2.0 is about new interaction models, new work models and new business models that are only possible on, or with, the Web.
Just because your first to market with a new model, doesnâ€™t mean you’ll stay there. Web 2.0 is about constantly inventing new models, even if it’s in the same domain.
{Taken right from Oâ€™Reilly} Network effects from user contributions are the key to market dominance in the Web 2.0 era.
The evidence of fun, is fast viral infectious user uptake. {Taken right from Oâ€™Reilly) It is a truism that the greatest internet success stories donâ€™t advertise their products. Their adoption is driven by â€œviral marketingâ€â€”that is, recommendations propagating directly from one user to another. You can almost make the case that if a site or product relies on advertising to get the word out, it isnâ€™t Web 2.0.
Create new models, give power to the people and make it fun. If you do that, there’s a good chance someone will look and say â€œnow that’s Web 2.0!â€œ

All these time, in my mind the question “Is the Pinoy ready for Web 2.0?” There are many barriers that come to mind:

Internet penetration.
Computer literacy.
Cost of Access.

Think of it this way — how many of those connected are just using the internet to play online games (Ragnarok)? Or email? Friendster? Yahoo! Chat? A reckon a good piece of the pie do just that and only that.

Friendster may be the closest thing a vast number of online Pinoys could have had a taste of Web 2.0. It’s a start — and a rather long one.

Abe Olandres

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

https://www.yugatech.com

23 Comments

vance says:

19 years ago

well there is del.icio.us, i think some pinoys are already using this to store bookmarks online and also rss feeds.
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kzap says:

19 years ago

i dont think anyone knows the difference, broadband is important though, you ever tried those ajax stuff on modems… slow..
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markku says:

19 years ago

It’s rather unnecessary to label a site or a service as “web 2.0,” unless you’re after the buzz. What really matters is if it serves the purpose it was built to address.

Take friendster for example, it was made as a “linker” of people, and it does it well, though mostly because it was first in the game.

Andre said it, what drives web technology these days is broadband, and hardware advancements as well. We wouldn’t have dreamed of watching youtube videos five years ago, right? ;)
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jhay says:

19 years ago

I just hope Web 2.0 will help the country move forward in development. Because if it will only be used to chat, Friendster, play on-line games or download illegal stuf then it will just be a big chunk of the on-line Pinoy’s expense pie.

I think it’s about time we use technology particularly the Internet to contribute to national development instead of establishing personal on-line presence for those who are “hooked” on technology and the internet.
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Miguel says:

19 years ago

I hope to see more Web 2.0 developers/mashers/remixers/builders to build apps, made in the Philippines but for global consumption.
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kevin says:

19 years ago

>Take friendster for example, it was made as a â€œlinkerâ€ of people, and it does it well, though mostly because it was first in the game.

Friendster sucks, doesn’t do well at all and lags the YASN’s world. Friendster was also like 4th itteration of the YASN’s (Yet Another Social Network) After linking friends it has no context and purpose… niether does myspace, but myspace has a few critical ingredients, #1) they didn’t try to configure the user,(friendster ceo kept saying for years it was a dating site, till they fired him… #2) myspace won because pushed the digital architect model of a personal myspace, where the identity is owned by users and users can mash and make their own.

Web 2.0 isn’t buzz, its a meme that represents a hell of a lot more than technology. its connecting real people with real purpose, its is about ENABLING.

Lets get together and ENABLE.

;-)
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peachy says:

19 years ago

first and foremost, for the pinoys to be ready for web2.0, they have to know what really is web2.0. there’s been a lot of discussions on its definition but for me – a non-programmer but computer and internet user – web2.0 is simply an evolution of the original web as we knew it, into something dynamic that is now providing users key elements that are lacking in the static web – user-friendly interface, functionality/usability, substance, purpose, relevance, mobility and last but not the least – social interaction. i believe the sociability aspect is the most compelling reason for pinoys to embrace web2.0. culturally sociable, pinoys value human relationships and interrelationships. pinoys, in fact, make up the highest percentage of friendster users. And with friendster as it is – no context, no purpose – what more if we offer the context, relevance, conversation-tool and purpose?

before i digress, allow me to address your concerns in terms of pinoys’ readiness for web2.0:

*internet penetration- internet shops/cafes are sprouting all over the country side, even in third class municipalities. y? for two reasons: one – over a million ofws are deployed around the world. and these ofws are mostly, if not all, come from the rural areas. because telephone calls are expensive, ofws communicate with their families through internet by online chatting, email or VOIP. ask a pinay working in hongkong how she communicates with her mother in the province and she’ll tell you – internet. point two-online gaming has become popular to children and adult alike that sometimes, when you enter an internet cafe in the rural are, you dont know if you’re entering an internet shop or an arcade. so as to penetration ( of internet ;) ) – we are ready. what is traveling to poblacion for a chance to communicate with your loved one for a penny?

*computer literacy. deped has been mandated to inlcude computer learning in all public elementary and high schools. as for the computer illiterate adults, web 2.0 makes it easier for them to learn/use the internet and/or computer. besides, that is what web2.0 is all about. user-centric interface.

*cost of access. 15-25 pesos per hour of internet access in the rural areas. no need to elaborate here. :) and smart is aggressively pushing its wifi in the provinces.

so are the pinoys ready for web2.0? i say YES! and we start by EDUCATION and EVANGELIZATION.
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aa says:

19 years ago

Markku succinctly and correctly puts it.
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j4s0n says:

19 years ago

andre and markku is right. it’s the broadband that made it right. although, even w/ broadband, it still does not matter since Web 2.0 i believe isnt coined for the general “web users”.

it’s for developers (designers and programmers and techies) just like us. using a set of technologies (AJAX,DHTML) under the scope of Web 2.0 made a website a web 2.0 application.

also, web users don’t really care about Web 2.0 at all. but we can give them a favor by giving them a better Web Experience utilizing (Web 2.0) technologies.

So it’s a two part question. Are filipino developers ready for Web 2.0? And are the Filipino Internet Users ready for the Web 2.0 experience?
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Kaye says:

19 years ago

“web users donâ€™t really care about Web 2.0”

I have to disagree with this statement up to a certain point. It is not that they–or Pinoy internet users, to be specific–do not care about this web trend/practice/school of thought, but that Pinoys first have to address the question, “What is web2.0”?

Users in more technologically advanced and connected countries have a fair understanding of what web2.0 is about and most are aware that their practices online are reflective of web2.0. But in a country like ours, it is still a matter of time before a larger section of the connected population gets a cognitive and practical appreciation of web2.0.

While the technologies that have practically built upon what were already existing are now available to the web-connected Pinoy, the way we utilize and understand the internet is still it’s as if we were back in the early stages of the WWW. True, the early adopters have a fair grasp of web2.0; but for the others–even those who hold occupations that are related to the web (and the way it is utilized)–have to be convinced that web2.0 is such and such. They are aware of the existence of del.icio.us, flickr, rss, ajax, etc; they hang out at social networking sites and blog non-stop. But it’s almost an entirely different matter to make them appreciate that these tools and technologies, combined with their practices online, make up web2.0.

IMHO, to strike out the user from the equation is to fail to grasp the possibilities web2.0 . The most successful tech companies out there value end-users the most in developing tools and services. And it is in putting a high premium on end users’ behavior that web2.0 was developed.

My 2 cents. :)
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