Web 2.0

The Idea in a Nutshell

It is a simple idea, I promise. You propose changes to any website, the intermediary website will allow commentary and a preview of what the proposed changes would look like. That content can then be used by the target of the proposed changes.

An Example

For example, let’s say you visit a blog and you read an article and really like it but have ideas how it can be improved. If you provide proofing services this could be career oriented outreach. You use the browser add on for the proposing website and it brings you to an editable version of the page. You make the changes you would like to “propose” then tweet it out to Twitterverse, Share via Facebook, clip via Amplify, etc. The blog owner may notice a trackback, a google alert or some analytics data. They can organically discover the modified version of the article. They can even grab the proposed changes and insert them in the blog, preferably including some citation to the individual that modified the content. This could be enforced via some type of embed option. There could be a social network built out of the proposing website, voting on the best changes, recognition, prizes and awards.

Provide input

Now that I’ve shared the root idea, would you like to propose features to improve this idea? Or maybe you want to ship me chests full of money, armies of interns and great advisers to try it out, either way I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Today I discovered an app that I can confidently say is one of the most under-hyped web 2.0 apps I’ve come across. I happened to be searching for something on google and one of the results was at amplify.com. When I got to the content I was very interested in what I saw, it was like Friend Feed meets Alltop. For best results I recommend using this with Mozilla Firefox.

Why is this a Killer Web 2.0 App?

You can easily share entire pages or snippets of pages via a number of channels.
It does all of the heavy lifting including tagging your content, yes it generates suggested tags!
Includes a social component and feed similar to Friendfeed.
Provides the ability to include categories to better organize your content.

Sharing snippets or pages via a number of channels

By allowing you to configure Facebook, Twitter, Friendfeed, and a number of other services you have the ability to share the message with the audience that you think it is most appropriate for by simply checking or unchecking the box next to that service. You can uncheck the twitter option for example if you want to add some hashtags you can come back and share with Twitter after you post it. It also has integration with bit.ly that allows you to track the URL’s that it parses and shares with the various sites you choose. For me the flexibility here is really helpful. If I’ve been busy on Facebook for example I might give those users a break and share it with Twitter. I don’t send everything everywhere, that is a decision we all must decide fits our needs best.

Check out my Amplify Page.

Heavy Lifting and Tagging Content

So many of us out here in internet land are lazy, we don’t always want to think about brands, messages and SEO. Sometimes we just want to post something and share it with our friends without consideration of how it will play out strategically for the next 90 days. For some of us tagging articles is the web 2.0 equivalent of heavy lifting. Someone was wise enough to figure this out and there are suggested tags generated automatically for each article or snippet you amplify. Yes!

Social Components and Friendfeed Like UI

I’ve noticed a lot of people on Friendfeed say not so nice things about Twitter. I can understand it, Twitter is like the wild west of the internet. It can be chaotic, it is very fluid and loose. Friendfeed is very structured and user friendly. Most importantly Friendfeed offers the right mix of features to make it very comfortable for social media savvy people to communicate. Amplify delivers this level of comfort and familiarity to the novice or pro alike.

Categories Better Organize Your Content

I discovered this option after I recorded the screencast for this post. I am definitely not about perfection and my screencasts, podcasts and writing will indicate that if you’ve followed me very long. So lacking the retention of a perfectionist I did not go back and add the category information to the video but it really is great to have it.

You will be cooler than all your friends

You can be cooler than all your friends, I cannot imagine how this site will not catch on. It has the most important criteria:

Ease of use – it doesn’t get much easier
Social – Check!
More features – Check!
Tags – Check!
Categories – Check!
URL Shortening/Tracking – Check!

Welcome to my favorite new Web 2.0 App: