One of the largest trends of Web 2.0 is the participation side. Of course this isn't entirely new, as online marketers have been using forums and other tools to involve their visitors in an online community for years.
Figures from last year reveal that 44% of the Internet-users in the U.S. actively participate in online activities through sharing files, blogging, forums or something like these.
While it will be a while before that figure reaches 100%, the percentages will undoubtedly rise, and user participation and content will become more pervasive as we share our lives through reviews of books and movies, comments on local fare, continually engage our goverments, or research into things like our family tree.
Again, while some of this may sound similar to what has been going on for years, there are some great differences. For example, it can be very helpful to encourage participation in the way a messaging service might, but it is much more valuable to take that output and bring it back into the application and have it available to all the users of the application, which is why services like Flickr are so much more attractive than other photo-album sites before them.
That is the great value that the right use of user-generated content brings. Take advantage of this growing trend in your online business and you will see solid growth as a result of it.
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