Turban- 3e
Instructor’s Manual
Chapter 7
THE WEB 2.0 ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIAL
NETWORKS
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this chapter, you will be able to:
1. Understand the Web 2.0 revolution, social and business networks, and industry and
market disruptors.
3. Understand social networking and social networking sites.
5. Describe business-oriented and enterprise social networks.
7. Describe Web 2.0 entertainment.
8. Describe the potential of Web 3.0 and Web 4.0.
Content
Opening Case: Wikipedia and Its Problems of Content, Quality, and Privacy Protection
7.2 Virtual Communities
7.4 Major Social Network Companies: From Facebook to Flickr
7.6 Commercial Aspects of Web 2.0 and Social Networking Applications
7.8 The Future: Web 3.0 and Web 4.0
Closing Case: LinkedIn: The Business-Oriented Social Network
Supplementary Videos for this Chapter
1. Facebook finally makes money (5:38 min)
Description of the revenue model of Facebook, especially its relationships to advertising
and sales.
4. Twitter CEO: We are not a fad (4:11 min)
Describes Twitter’s useful applications
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Answers to Pause/Break Section Review Questions
Section 7.1 Review
1. Define Web 2.0.
2. List the major characteristics of Web 2.0.
See page 256.
3. Identify the major Web 2.0 technology.
4. Define social media.
5. What is a disruptor? Provide an example.
Section 7.2 Review
1. Define virtual (Internet) communities and describe their characteristics.
2. List the major types of virtual communities.
There are several categories including:
• Associations
3. Distinguish between private and public communities.
4. Distinguish between internal and external communities.
Section 7.3 Review
1. Define social network.
2. List some major social network sites.
3. Describe the global nature of social networks.
4. Discuss how social networking can drive new business models.
5. Describe mobile social networking.
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Section 7.4 Review
1. Identify the major strategic issues of Facebook (e.g., look at the marketing efforts at
insidefacebook.com and at facebook.com).
2. Much of Facebook’s early success was due to the close affiliation of its members’
networks. How does Facebook expand into new markets without losing what originally
made the site popular and alienating existing users?
3. What strategies should Bebo pursue in order to compete directly with other social
networking sites?
Student opinion will vary.
4. What makes Orkut different from other social networks? How should it respond to the
demands of local governments that disapprove of some of the ideas and practices
associated with social networking sites?
5. What makes Twitter so popular for business use?
Student opinion will vary.
6. Most social networking sites now offer services similar to those provided by Flickr.
Will this cause the demise of Flickr?
Student opinion will vary.
Section 7.5 Review
1. What is a business-oriented network?
2. What is an entrepreneurial network?
3. Define enterprise social network.
4. List six ways organizations can interface with Web 2.0 tools and social networks.
5. What is a social marketplace?
The term social marketplace is derived from the combination of social networking and
Section 7.6 Review
1. Why is there so much interest in EC via social communities?
2. How can a social network facilitate viral marketing?
3. How can social networks support shopping?
4. How is customer feedback solicited in social networks?
5. List some risks in enterprise social networking.
6. How do social networks generate revenue?
Section 7.7 Review
1. Describe entertainment communities and provide an example.
2. Describe online marketplaces for music.
3. What is an Internet series?
4. Describe the iPhone.
Section 7.8 Review
1. What is Web 3.0, and how will it differ from Web 2.0?
2. Define Semantic Web.
3. List the major potential inhibitors of e-commerce and Web 2.0.
Inhibitors could include:
• Security concerns
• Lack of Net Neutrality
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4. What is Web 4.0?
Answers to EC Application Case Questions
EC Application Case 7.1: REVENUE SOURCES AT YOUTUBE
1. List the different advertising models on YouTube.
2. List the success factors from these cases.
3. What are the benefits for the advertisers?
Answers to Individual Discussion Questions
1. How do business-oriented networks and enterprise social networks differ?
2. What are the major characteristics of Web 2.0? What are some of the advantages of
Web 2.0 applications?
The following are representative characteristics (O’Reilly 2005):
• The ability to tap into the collective intelligence of users. The more users contribute,
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3. Discuss the use of virtual communities to do business on the Internet.
4. What are some of the risks companies may face if they decide to use public social
networks?
5. Why are social marketplaces considered to be a Web 2.0 application?
6. How can marketers use social networks for viral marketing?
7. Discuss the commercial opportunities presented by public social networks.
8. Why are advertisers so interested in social networks?
9. What are the benefits of conversational marketing?
10. How can wikis be used to facilitate knowledge management?
11. Discuss the relationships among mobile devices, social networking, and EC.
12. Identify and discuss Facebook’s revenue model.
Answers to Class Discussion Questions
1. Should companies build in-house social networks for external activities or use existing
public social networks?
Student opinions and responses will vary.
2. Social networks services, such as Visible Path, can provide social networking services
for entire enterprises that are fairly secure. However, security may limit users’ creativity
and disrupt the business. Should a company use this service?
Student opinions and responses will vary.
3. Some research suggests that the use of public social networks by employees can be
good for a business, because employees develop relationships and share information,
which increases productivity and innovation. Others say it is waste of time and ban the
use of Facebook, YouTube, and other such sites. Discuss.
Student opinions and responses will vary.
4. Some say that MySpace is turning into an entertainment center, whereas Facebook is
becoming a communication center. Discuss.
Student opinions and responses will vary.
5. Discuss the business value of social networking. As a start, read Tom Davenport’s
“Where’s the Working in Social Networks” (blogs. harvardbusiness.org/
davenport/2007/10/wheres_the_working_ in_social_n.html) and Brett Bonfield’s
6. Discuss the opportunities that the faltering economy provides to social networking in
assisting enterprises to overcome their problems.
Student opinions and responses will vary.
Internet Exercises
(Note: URLs may change over time; please check the Internet Exercises on the
1. Enter the Web site of a social network service (e.g., myspace.com or facebook.com).
Build a homepage. Add a chat room and a message board to your site using the free tools
provided. Describe the other capabilities available. Make at least five new friends.
Student experiences and reports will vary.
2. Enter vivapets.com and dogster.com and compare their offerings.
Student experiences and reports will vary. Both sites allow for the aggregation of pets for
3. Enter classmates.com, myspace.com, and linkedin.com and list their sources of
revenue.
4. Enter xing.com and linkedin.com and compare their functionalities (capabilities). Also,
enter ryze.com and view the video tutorial on networking. Compare Ryze’s capabilities
with those of LinkedIn.com. Write a report.
Student experiences and reports will vary.
5. Enter clicstar.com. Why is it an online entertainment service? What are the benefits to
viewers? Compare this site to starz.com.
6. Enter advertising.com. Find the innovative/scientific methods that are offered. Relate
to Web 2.0 and search.
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Student experiences and reports will vary.
7. Enter the paulgillin.com blog and find information related to enterprise applications of
Web 2.0 technologies. Write a report.
Student experiences and reports will vary.
8. Enter pandora.com. Find out how you can create and share music with friends. Why is
this a Web 2.0 application?
Student experiences and reports will vary.
9. Enter webkinz.com and compare its activities to that of facebook.com. Enter nielsen-
online.com and find the average stay time on both social network sites.
Student experiences and reports will vary.
10. Enter smartmobs.com. Go to blogroll. Find three blogs related to Web 2.0 and
summarize their major features.
Student experiences and reports will vary.
11. Enter mashable.com and review the latest news regarding social networks and
network strategy. Write a report.
Student experiences and reports will vary.
12. Access Hof ’s “My Virtual Life” (2008) at
businessweek.com/print/magazine/content/06_18/b3982001.htm?chang=g1 and meet the
seven residents in the slide show. Prepare a table that shows the manner in which they
make money, the required skills, and the reason they do it in Second Life.
Student experiences and reports will vary.
13. Identify two virtual worlds (other than Second Life). Explore business opportunities
there. Join as a member and write a report.
Student experiences and reports will vary.
14. Enter secondlife.com and find the commercial activities of the following avatars:
Fizik Baskerville, Craig Altman, Shaun Altman, FlipperPA Peregrine, and Anshe Chung.
Describe briefly what they represent.
15. Enter businessinsider.com/alleyinsider/mobileand find the latest developments in
iPhone and similar phones. Relate the developments to social networking. Write a report.
Student experiences and reports will vary.
16. Enter en.wikipedia.org/wiki/mixi and look at mixi’s features that are similar to those
offered by other social networks. Relate it to online entertainment.
17. Enter ning.com. Explore its capabilities and discuss how it is related to social
network sites.
18. Enter yedda.com and explore its approach to knowledge sharing.
Team Assignments and Role Playing
1. Each group member selects a single-family house where he (she) lives, or where a
friend lives. Next, enter zillow.com and find the value of a house in the neighborhood.
Then, add all improvements and re-price the house. Find out how to list the house for
sale on Zillow and other sites (e.g., craigslist.com). Write a summary. Compare each
member’s experiences.
Student reports will vary.
2. Each group is assigned to a social network that has business activities on it (e.g.,
LinkedIn, Xing, Facebook, Second Life, etc.). Each group will then register with
hellotxt.com to find out what is going on in the site with regard to recent business
activities. Write a report and make a class presentation. With Hello TXT, you log on to
the site and enter your text message into the dashboard. You then select the sites you
want to update with your new status message, and Hello TXT does the rest, reaching out
to your various pages to add your new status message. It is a great centralized way to
keep all your various profiles as up-to-date as possible, and it is designed to update your
LinkedIn status by answering the question “What are you working on?”
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Student reports will vary.
3. The group signs in to secondlife.com and creates an avatar(s). Each member is
assigned to explore a certain business area (e.g., virtual real estate, educational
activities, diplomatic island). Make sure the avatar interacts with other people’s avatars.
Write a report.
Student reports will vary.
4. Enter facebook.com and myspace.com and find out how 10 well-known corporations
use the sites to conduct commercial activities (as per Sections 9.5 and 9.6). Also,
compare the functionalities of the two sites.
Closing Case: LINKEDIN: THE BUSINESS-ORIENTED SOCIAL
NETWORK
1. Enter linkedin.com and explore. Why do you think the site is so successful?
2. What features are related to recruiting and job finding?
3. How does “LinkedIn Answers” work? Try to use it by posting a query. Report the
results.
Student experiences will vary.
4. Why do you think President Obama created a page on LinkedIn while he was running
for president?