I don’t know how up to date y’all are with the changes happening virtually every day in the nature and structure of the Internet. Like Reiki, the Internet is an organic and evolving organism and the changes are coming so fast that it really can make your head spin. The latest changes in the Internet are being referred to as Web 2.0 by Internet Professionals and the implications for Reiki are truly amazing. I’d like to take a look at some of these implications here.

What is Web 2.0?

There’s been a lot of buzz in Internet Marketing circles about Web 2.0… what exactly is it? In a nutshell, Web 2.0 refers to the way that Internet and computer speeds and memory capacity have grown to the point that static and unchanging Web Pages have been replaced by dynamic and interactive pages. Instead of one-way communication between a Website and a reader (who at best could send an email or make a phone call to the provider if there was a question or a concern) there is now two-way communication where, like in the case of this blog, readers can immediately respond and issues addressed instantly. This communicative ability has led to changes in the way Web Pages and entire Websites have been constructed as well as a multitude of services and sites supporting that ability.

Blogs are only one example of this, sites like Myspace and Facebook are all referred to as Web 2.0 Properties as they allow for a greater ease of communication between users as well as a greater degree of freedom in the dissemination of information by people who don’t even have their own Website. Social networking has made sites like YouTube more popular than sites like Yahoo and Google as readers spend hours updating their profiles, chatting with and making new friends, uploading pictures and videos, commenting on other sites and pages, etc.

With Web 2.0, Web Sites have been replaced by Web Communities and the speed with which changes occur is mind boggling. With the advent of the Information Age, Wikis have replaced the old conventional encyclopedias, Podcasting is replacing the radio for up-to-the-minute news, video sharing sites are replacing the television, search engines have replaced the yellow pages, and on-line chatrooms are replacing the local watering holes for making new friends and being social. And as if all these Web 2.0 Properties themselves aren’t enough folksonomies (social tagging and bookmarking sites) are making it easy to find out which sites your friends think are cool and which ones to avoid.

Web 2.0 and Reiki

So where does Reiki fit into all of this? The 30 Day Reiki Challenge is a perfect example of how entire courses can now be delivered online, and next year’s challenge will have video and audio attachments that will make it even more dynamic. Reiki blogs are all over the place, many of which, like this one, was started just for the blogger to put his ideas in type. Reiki forums are found all over the place, there are a few notable Reiki wikis, and Reiki videos on YouTube like this one are all the rage. These Reiki Communities are replacing the traditional Reiki share in many cases (which has its goiod points and bad points) and there are some great communities out there!

With Web 2.0, especially as far as Reiki is concerned, comes a lot of responsibility which is sadly being abused, not only on Reiki Web 2.0 Properties, but on a great deal of the Internet in general. One thing that a lot of people don’t seem to get is that once something is published to the Internet, it is there permanently. I can delete this entire blog tomorrow and Google and Yahoo (as well as some of my more avid followers) will still have copies that can never be taken back.

In my recent post on Reiki Admiralty I was able to provide some information about Reiki history that has never been seen before on any other Reiki Website. And as opposed to just a few years ago I didn’t need to go through the process of writing and publishing a book to do so. I did the research, and within a few hours the information was live. Think of the power inherent in that ability! That is the power of Web 2.0!

Now the only question that remains, is “What will Web 3.0 look like?”

For further explanation or discussion, your thoughts are most welcome and highly encouraged, please feel free to comment below!!!