Web 2.0 or Social Networking -- The Definition Is Ambiguous

This is a pervasive verbiage disfunction not unlike "blog" or "podcast". A blog is a collection of posts just as a podcast is a collection of audio productions. It pains me to see these terms abused and so rarely used properly. We'll get into that another time.

A colleague recently sent this -

Here is a good contra perspective on building a Web 2.0 company without investment…

I don’t think the cited perspective is so much about startups without funding as it is about bubbles that should (or are beginning to) burst. Unfortunately, everyone looks at "Web 2.0" and all they see is "social networking". Two observations...

1. Web 2.0 is about much more than social networking. Social networking is simply one idea that is implemented and thriving to some degree with Web 2.0 DNA (i.e., XML, microformats, RSS, RDF, relationship management architectures, etc.)
2. Most social networking sites seem to be struggling with revenue issues. This is errily similar to a time—let's see—just before the dot-bomb?

The carnage is starting to mount up—Edgio, Feedster, Podtech, and a number of others are starting to show stress.