Web 2.0 Doubles Traffic

Posted by Laura Bergells

May 3, 2007

Web 2.0 websites are the fastest growing sites out there — or so says Neilsen Netratings. Web 2.0

How fast?

Twice as fast as regular sites.

Hmm. I usually take these kinds of reports with a grain of pepper and sneeze out most of the findings. After all, I was a Neilsen Netratings Panel Member for a number of years, and I had to be at least a little technically proficient. And a pool of technically proficient people is not exactly a random sample. The technically proficient are more likely to be regular consumers of Web 2.0 content, right?

Further, Web 2.0 is “loosely defined” as those that let users to interact “via e-mail, messaging, blogs, and other social media tools.”

Email is Web 2.0???

Since when?

Whatever.

The report sites the Web 2.0 sites with the highest traffic growth as:

Feedburner (385%)
Digg.com (286%)
MySpace (170%)
Wikipedia (161%)
Facebook (134%)

Now, I love my feedburner feeds, and I am happy to see their growth noted. However, ask your Average Josey about Feedburner, and you are likely to generate a big “What-what?”

Feedburner most often runs in the background, y’see. Not a big name recognition among the non-technorati crowd.

Maybe that will change. Maybe Web 2.0 will become all the rage among the citizenry — especially as we head into an election year. Will the candidates be ready to tap into the power of real conversations?