I have spent the morning working on the next edition of our monthly newsletter and one of the articles I was considering got me to thinking….is the DiveSports network Web 2.0? To get a grasp on the answer to this question, we have to first define what Web 2.0 is. This term (Web 2.0) was first mentioned by Tim O’Reilly during a Internet conference in 2004. At the time, he defined the term as an Internet application where users provide content to move the modern website to a two-way communication device.

For my business use, I define the term Web 2.0 as an Internet application where we (the Dive Sports crew) begin to use the Internet to talk WITH you instead of TO you. Our old, static website simply gave you information about our products and our operation. It was a single platform of communication where we told you things about our products and services, without the capability for you to speak back. Our current website at www.divesports.com is, in fact, designed in keeping with our personal definition of Web 2.0 technology. Not only do we tell you about our products and services, but you have the capability to talk back to us through product reviews. You can use the Post a Review capability on every product page to tell us what you like and what you don’t like about that product. But your communication, through product review, goes even farther. You can directly influence our shoppers by having your reviews and comments published right there on the product page for potential buyers to read and consider BEFORE they press the Add to Cart button!

Taking this two-way communication concept a little further, we now envision our Dive Sports Internet presence not as a website, but as a network of sites working together. This web blog, the DiveSportsBlog, is just another part of this network. It is tightly linked to the primary website at www.divesports.com and extends YOUR capability to communicate with us even further. In addition, we have added opt-in email communications to our Dive Sports network, further extending the ability to communicate with our customers.

Later this year, we will begin adding content to another website designed JUST for product reviews. We already have another blog at www.divegearreviews.com waiting just for this purpose. We have not added any content yet, because we haven’t yet determined how this content will be added. We would like to have a number of friends and customers providing in-depth reviews of the products available to the modern scuba diver. If anyone has any suggestions for www.divegearreviews.com, we would love to hear them. We want to get this up and going, and providing you with valuable information and reviews, before the years end.

So, is DiveSports.com Web 2.0? I think so. Mind you, our technological ability is dwarfed by that of some of our competitors. That said, we are working hard and using every bit of our skill and ability to make our Internet network a two-way communication platform that achieves our business objectives while keeping a keen ear to the ground about what YOU think.

Phil Ellis

See Web 2.0 at Work at www.divesports.com