The Other Revelation

Something else that I got from reading their mag...

I came to an article on the ocean off WA, and I thought, "boring, don't really care" and then... I turned the page! Total lightbulb moment.
Why, when I log on as a member, doesn't the website filter content for the projects and campaigns that I am actually interested in?

Pat has just logged in... he is interested in saving energy in the home, saving energy as a renter, green design and architecture, green products, eco-travel, government policy on carbon emissions and water resources. He doesn't really think much about the Gunn pulp mill, or the Murray Darling Basin, he definitely doesn't care about the plight of South Australian fur seals, and lies about caring about rural health issues. Pat is only about a 6/10 as an environmentalist, but would, at some stage, like to do more, but right now, will do what is relatively easy to do (green bags and turning off appliances at the wall).

ACF online should know this!

A Breakthrough

I wish I was in the head space that I am in now a week ago. I will try to orgainse my thoughts so please bear with me...

I was just on the toilet (how many flashes of inspiration have come on the toilet?) and I was reading the Habitat, the ACF supporters' magazine (yes I am actually a financial supporter of ACF), when it hit me that a lot of the content of the magazine wasn't on the website, at least not readily visible, but that a lot of it should be. Even though there is a 'Latest Media Releases' section on most of the site pages, the magazine still felt more current, more whole, for lack of a better word. The mag also felt more browsable, there was more value added content such as advertisments for environmental things (products, holidays, events) and updates and photos of recent events. It also struck me that a pdf version of the mag isn't available online, even to signed in members, which is odd for an environmental charity not to have a 'please don't waste resources printing and posting a mag to me every quarter, I'll just read it online' option.

The mag also has: book and DVD reviews, a small 'gifts in memory' section naming supporters who have lefe bequests in their will (a nice touch at humanising thier donors) and some great information graphics that are sadly and noticably missing from their website.

What is Web 2.0?

I think I have been trying to get my head around exactly what Web 2.0 means until I found this fantastic article by Tim O'Reilly. So I have tried to synthesize all of the info in this article and basically (hopefully not too basic) web 2.0 is about the shift towards interactivity. The web should no longer be about the static but about the dynamic and interactive.
Browsers (viewers/readers? I'm not sure what the right term should be), in a web 2.0 world are more 'in control' of their web experience. Sharing, commenting, discussing and interacting are important parts of the web 2.0 experience. Beyond that, the web should become more intuitive and responsive, like Amazon/Google suggestions.
Communication should flow in both directions and the web should increasingly facilitate user to user communication not just user to computer. I think that web 2.0 is about the internet differentiating itself from other communication media and really utilising the characteristics that make it the web:
Books are static.
Television is passive.
Newspapers are not updateable.
None of them are interactive.

On the other hand, the web should:
Be interactive and dynamic, encouraging user participation.
Get better the more that people use it (as O'Reilly puts it 'perpetual beta').
Tell the long tail (cater for all, not just the head (think decentralisation))

O'Reilly talks about web 2.0 also and perhaps more importantly being about an attitude shift about what the internet is.