Application of Social Software in Tourism Industry

Abstract

Despite many controversies that arose around terms linked to the second wave in the Inter- net evolution more and more companies use social software in their web activity. Nowadays organizations from different industries apply single tools (e.g. blogs or discussion lists), build complex community portals or use already functioning ones. The paper examines premises and possibilities of business application of user-fed Web 2.0 solutions in tourism industry. Introduction: Web 2.0 in business Over the last few years a new trend in functioning and utilization of the Internet has emerged. This new trend is known as Web 2.0, what is to symbolize the second wave in the Internet evolution. The term Web 2.0 appeared for the first time in 2004 in conjunction with a confe- rence organized by O'Reilly Media 1 . It has been quite imprecise and controversial from the very beginning like the phenomenon of the second wave itself. One of its' opponents, Tim Berners-Lee claims, that cooperation and interaction, which suppose to be the hallmarks of Web 2.0, were the immanent elements of the first wave of the Internet evolution 2 . From this point of view Web 2.0 is only a marketing buzzword, a new package for an already known product. One should agree with the father of WWW up to a certain degree at which only a potential of the web is concerned. However, considering an actual realization of that potential, ena- bled by new technological developments in web structures and content creation tools, and manifesting in more and more active user attitudes, it appears that Web 2.0 differs from its' predecessor in an architectural as well as utilitarian way. According to T. O'Reilly Web 2.0 is a multidimensional concept 3 based on the perception of web as an interactive platform for providing services 4 rather than static software as it was before. Shape and configuration of those services can be dynamically changed while control over their content (data) is in hands of users. It means, that an architecture of web solutions is only outlined (often with the vital participation of advanced users) and then it emerges and evolves during development of user's activity. To the most popular Web 2.0 tools belong: community portals 5 (the most advanced and complex tools), blogs (virtual diaries, often in photo and video form), tools for immediate di- scussion and opinion exchange - internet forums (asynchronous) and chats (synchronous), wiki mechanism (supporting individual creation of sites content by their users), RSS (applied