1 | Dropbox | Dropbox is a Web 2.0 tool that provides you with a huge online storage platform where you can store any file you wish, and access it anytime you want, from anyplace in the world (as long as you have a compatible device and a working internet connection). The service is hosted on the cloud implying that all data is hosted on remote servers. Dropbox app can be installed on your smartphone or even a computer, through which you can log into your Dropbox account and sync all the files existing on that device/computer. This Web 2.0 tool is actively used by millions of people throughout the world, to safely store their files in one place, and easily access them on the go. What makes Dropbox very special is its user-friendly nature, as it provides an elegant and simple method for people to store and access their information. Any file added to Dropbox on a certain device will get automatically uploaded to the cloud storage, and can be used on any other device that’s linked to your user account. You can also access that file through the Dropbox website. This Web 2.0 tool not only helps you store all your files in one location, you can share specific files with whoever you want to, or even invite other people to access your Dropbox folder. This special Dropbox feature makes it the perfect tool to collaborate with others and work as a team on projects. It can even be used to plan events or share some kind of information with your friends and family. So, you can create a Dropbox folder with relevant data and then invite your family or friends to access the folder for vacation pictures, event planning or whatever you want to do with them together. More information: Dropbox.com |
2 | Wikis | If you work in an environment where there is plenty of scope for collaborative teams, you can make use of wikis to make things smoother and more efficient for yourself, and everyone else. Wikis are nothing but web systems which allow for multiple users to collaborate with each other on the same web-based document. Wikipedia is the most popular wiki on the Internet today, which has gradually emerged as a massive online encyclopedia. It’s become so huge that anytime you do a search on Google, it would inevitably run across Wikipedia as well. Wikis can turn out to be an amazing productivity tool if you allow your customers, suppliers and employees to regularly exchange information and knowledge with each other, through them. They can in fact become the digital knowledge base of a company. However, one thing that must be factored in here is that there is a certain level of internal monitoring required in case of wikis, especially in case of larger organizations. Project collaboration is by far the most effective and commonly seen use of wikis. Although Wikis don’t have any comprehensive resource management features usually found in the project management tools, they are nevertheless excellent for sharing and exchanging information on a project. More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki |
3 | WordPress and Blogger | WordPress is an open source online web development tool that’s written in PHP, and uses MySQL in the backend. Considered by far the most powerful and easiest tool for blogging purposes, and also a comprehensive website CMS (Content Management System), hundreds of thousands of blogs on the Internet are created using WordPress. Blogger on the other hand is another highly popular blog publishing service which enables you to create multi user blogs, featuring timestamp entries. Originally a product of Pyra Labs, Blogger was taken over by Google in the year 2003. All blogs created on Blogger are hosted in the form of a subdomains at blogspot.com. These two websites go hand in hand when it comes to creation of Web 2.0 blogs that feature high levels of engagement with the readers. Both provide amazing creative platforms for creation of blogs, either for business purposes or just as a hobby. Many people use WordPress and Blogger for creation and maintenance of blogs that are primarily used as a sales and marketing tool. Other than that, many use these blogs in the form of a productivity tool for sharing and recording of information. More information: Wordpress.com and Blogger.com |
4 | Basecamp | In the earlier days, people used to create project plans in either Microsoft Project or some other semi collaborative or standalone project management utility. Majority of the SMEs (small and medium enterprises) manage their projects using some free tool like Microsoft Excel or from within the MS Outlook. Project collaboration used to be very limited back in those days. However, entrepreneurs of today can make use of efficient web-based project management Web 2.0 tools like Basecamp to significantly streamline their business activities and improve productivity. What makes tools like Basecamp so efficient is that you’re not required to install any extra software on your laptop/computer or mobile device. As long as you have a working Internet connection and a good web browser, you’re good to go. You simply need to sign up and begin the project management process. The payments are also on a monthly basis and is there is no huge initial investment involved. In case of larger business teams or more complicated security requirements, you might need to spend some extra time to set up relevant online tools. However you’d still be up and running in a fairly quick time (compared to other tools). Basecamp offers all the major project management features people expect from such a tool. Hence, you can easily manage various projects, plan them well and assigned team tasks for it. Apart from that, you can also schedule milestones and set up various to-do lists. Relevant tools are also provided for time tracking and management & approval of timesheets. More information: Basecamp.com |
5 | Voki | Voki is a freely available Web 2.0 tool which can be used for creating impressive talking avatars. You can customize their characters and make them look like cartoons, animals, historical figures and even yourself! There is even a Voki Classroom which you can join by paying a nominal fee and get access to more number of options, apart from the ability to control and change the privacy settings. Normally all Vokis have a 60 second recording limitation, and you can use either a computer-generated voice or your own. The voice can be added through different methods including typed-in text, phone recording, audio files or through a microphone. Many professionals and students use Voki as a part of bigger projects or for completing quick assignments. It’s very easy to create a Voki fairly quickly. Even if you use the free version, you can use all kinds of characters and options to create an impressive avatar. The appearance of the stock characters can be customized and the background images can be altered. These Vokis can be published directly to websites, as a copy/paste hyperlink or in the form of an embedded code. This Web 2.0 tool is extensively used in teaching environments. For instance, a subject or lesson that a teacher is presently teaching in the class, he/she could assign students to create a video clip avatar that would summarize the teachings from the classroom sessions and lectures. These avatars could then be posted on to a shared student website, where they can be viewed and reviewed by the teachers and students. More information: Voki.com |
6 | Animoto | If you’ve ever tried putting together a decent slideshow, you’d be aware how tedious and painstaking the process can be. Animoto works as an excellent solution to this problem. It is essentially a cloud-based video-creation Web 2.0 tool that can help you produce some stunning videos by incorporating video clips, pictures and music (from your device or system) into the video slideshows. You are allowed to select from a wide range of sleek video styles, add some song/s to the clip and you’d be done! The resulting video can be shared easily on Facebook, Twitter or via email. The program has the ability to help you create top-notch marketing and/or personal videos using this method. There is a wide range of customization options in the form of layout, colors and audio. This tool is mainly targeted at amateurs and individuals who wish to create pro-level videos, but want a simple and easy-to-use tool to do so. The application has already been downloaded millions of times and has also featured in National Geographic, CNN, WSJ, Wired, NBC, NYTimes and many more places. This tool is available on Facebook and in the form of iPad, android and iOS apps. There is also an Animoto plug-in available for the Adobe Lightroom. More information: Animoto.com |
7 | Prezi | Essentially a cloud-based productivity application, Prezi helps you in creation of presentations which are very different from the conventional PowerPoint presentations. Rather than using a sequence of slides or some type of animated video, Prezi presentations enable you to zoom in and out of a large sized canvas, starting by focusing on a set of videos or images, or a block of text, and simply switching to the other images, videos or text on the canvas, whenever you want. You are allowed to zoom out of the entire canvas at any point of time, or zoom in to check any details. It delivers a very engaging and dynamic effect, making deeper user interactions possible, quite different from the regular slide after slide presentations. Prezi can even be used in the form of a collaborative brainstorming tool. Prezi released a new product called ‘Prezi Business’ in 2016, featuring brand-new feature sets tailored for usage and interactions between business teams. Just like the original Prezi, Prezi Business can also be used for creating eye-catching presentations, enabling you to connect with audiences in a more engaging manner. However, how it differs from the original is that the design work flow is streamlined and there are some new features meant for efficient creation and delivery of presentations. More information: Prezi.com |
8 | Google Docs and Spreadsheets | Google Docs is a freely available web-based word processor that enables people to easily share their documents and collaborate with others online. Members of a community can be provided access to different documents as long as they have a computer or a smart phone connected to the Internet. Additional members can be invited to join in and share the documents too. On the whole, Google Docs provides an easy means for accessing and exchanging information via Internet. Any changes made to the documents are saved on the Google servers by default, without the need of storing them on the local hard drive. Any time you open a file online, and make some changes to it, they get saved automatically, thereby preventing chances of any data loss. The Web 2.0 tool also allows you to organize and save documents based on tags. That way, you can easily locate and access them whenever required, making you more organized. Not only do you get the ability to upload document files, but also presentations and spreadsheets. Various types of documents can be uploaded and edited including: Word documents, HTML OpenOffice, text files, .xls files, .pdf files, .csv files, .ods files, .html files and .ppt files. More information: Docs.google.com |
9 | Basically a short messaging service, Twitter is a Web 2.0 tool that can be used over multiple devices and networks. It’s a free of cost microblogging and social networking service that is extensively used by people world over, for all kinds of purposes. Using Twitter, you can follow information originating from international sources regardless of where you may be. You could also keep track of the recent activities of your friends, in real time, as they happen. The primary reason why Twitter has grown so much in popularity is its simplicity. It provides people with an easy to use Web 2.0 tool which they can use to stay in touch with others in the simplest, easiest and quickest manner. All tweets have a limit of 140 characters and are sent through instant message, mobile web, web and MSN. Unlike as in case of regular text messages, tweets get routed among the network of friends of the tweeter. Even strangers (referred to as followers) can subscribe to the tweets of people they wish to follow. Twitter has rapidly emerged as a very important Web 2.0 marketing tool for businesses, politicians and celebrities in a short span of time. It promises an intimacy level that never existed in the online world, apart from giving people the ability to speak directly to institutions and other people. Post a question on Twitter and you’d get endless number of answers in a matter of 15 seconds. No website, phone call or email messaging service can deliver that swift response. More information: Twitter.com | |
10 | Infogram | Another extensively used Web 2.0 tool all over the world, Infogram allows you to easily create and share impressive infographics with others. It’s a web-based infographics and data visualization platform that’s based out of Riga, Latvia. Infographics or information graphics are essentially graphical visual representations of any type of knowledge, data or information. These work very well in presentation of data in a captivating manner. With Infogram you can select from a wide variety of predefined templates that can be edited online. You can create and share maps, infographics and digital charts with it. It provides an intuitive WYSIWYG editor that converts the provided data into an infographic which can then be used as per your liking. There are no coding skills required. All kinds of people ranging from students, educators, government establishments, marketing teams, newsrooms etc. make active use of Infogram for their different needs. After you’re done creating your infographics, the Web 2.0 tool enables you to embed it into your own website or share it with others. The tool also has a Pro version that makes it possible for you to download the infographic as a high quality .png or.pdf file. In addition, you can easily import any kind of data from a .csv or .xls file directly into Infogram. More information: Infogram.com |