Changes in the way people are using the internet are a constant source of interest in the publishing industry. Events such as Rupert Murdoch buying mySpace for $US629m in July last year show how the industry is watching and investing in new media.

The internet is a constantly evolving place. New ideas and new communities are springing up and disappearing at a rapid rate, changing the network as they go. Some ideas are more significant and lasting than others, with the potential to affect the way we live and work.

The first big idea to gain widespread familiarity was email. From its beginnings in 1971, it has steadily grown to become today’s fast, efficient and ubiquitous one-to-one communication. The next big step was the World Wide Web - web pages - which really kicked off in 1991 and brought to a peak the concept of one-to-many communication. Since the introduction of the web, internet growth has mushroomed; in Australia alone, more than 14 million people use it.

The next big step, which is happening on the internet now, has been popularly called ‘Web 2.0′. The term Web 2.0 has been criticised as a meaningless marketing buzzword, and it is difficult to find a common definition, but with millions of Google citations, it has clearly taken hold. Web 2.0 can be broadly characterised by one basic concept: many-to-many communication. Blogs, mySpace and Wikipedia are good examples of Web 2.0, where many thousands of people communicate directly with many thousands more on sites that completely bypass traditional media channels.

So where does this leave the publishing industry? Recently released statistics from the Commercial Economic Advisory Service of Australia show that online advertising spending in Australia actually exceeded magazine advertising expenditure for the first time. As a publisher, if you don’t have a spare $US629m lying around to purchase the latest Web 2.0 phenomenon, how can you benefit from the new digital world? Will today’s publishing companies be displaced by the new business models of startup companies?

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