Web 2.0, a term referring to ‘second generation of web-based communities and hosted services’, is currently a big Internet growth point with billions being invested in it worldwide. <\/p>\n
According to Wikipedia, these second generation web-based communities and hosted services — such as social-networking sites, wikis and folksonomies — generally aim to facilitate collaboration and sharing between users.<\/p>\n
Typical examples of Web 2.0 sites are Digg, Facebook, Myspace and Youtube, and with Youtube recently attracting a $ 1.65 Billion acquisition by Google and MySpace being bought for US$580 million by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation it is quite clear why Web 2.0 has become the latest buzz word. <\/p>\n
Blog Aggregators<\/strong><\/p>\n Locally there are many Web 2.0 startups, ranging from Video hosting services similar to Youtube to blogging platforms like Blogger and blog aggregators like Technorati.<\/p>\n Two of the most recent additions are Amatomu and Afrigator. Both of these are blog aggregators, with Amatomu focusing its attention mainly on South African blogs while Afrigator has a stronger African focus.<\/p>\n Amatomu quickly became the de-facto measurement for blogging success in South Africa, and is sending over 300 000 click throughs to the local blogosphere monthly. It is currently tracking 3 828 406 page impressions from 14 880 blog posts per month, and is growing at a rapid rate.<\/p>\n Afrigator went live in April this year, and is already attracting 12 557 unique monthly visitors. Over 1 200 blogs are listed on the website, and according to Justin Hartman, co-founder of Afrigator, the site currently grows at around 25.5% per month.<\/p>\n South African Digg<\/strong><\/p>\n South Africa’s version of Digg is Muti. Here visitors can submit articles or websites which they find interesting and they can vote for their favourate submissions.<\/p>\n The website was launched in the beginning of 2006, and has attracted 3 000 registrations already. According to David Duarte the site notches up around 4 000 unique IP addresses per day.<\/p>\n YouTube with a local flavor<\/strong><\/p>\n Two of the most prominent local video hosting websites are Zoopy and MyVideo.<\/p>\n MyVideo was launched in the beginning of the year and is proving to be a popular destination for many local Netizens. It attracts 18 000 unique visitors per month and serves around 100 000 pages to its users.<\/p>\n Zoopy launched into Live Beta on 5 March 2007, and has served 290 537 pages to its 31 467 unique visitors in August.<\/p>\n Craigslist for locals<\/strong><\/p>\n Vottle is a South African Craigslist, and offers a free classifieds platform to local Internet users. This service was started by well known Internet entrepreneur Ronnie Apteker from Internet Solutions fame in April 2006 – with the help of people like Richard van Katwijk and Justin Spratt.<\/p>\n It currently attracts nearly 28 000 unique monthly visitors and served 223 938 pages over the last 30 days. So far the site has 5 907 registered members who have placed 27 769 classifieds.<\/p>\n Social networking<\/strong><\/p>\n ITWeb entered the social networking arena in April this year with MyDigitallife, offering a blogging platform, articles, a forum and other social networking components. The website attracts 32 000 unique monthly visitors and serves around 200 000 pages per month to its growing user base.<\/p>\n Another social networking addition is Blueworld, offering users a platform for blogging, profiles and video hosting and they have been around since 2005. It currently receives 55 000 unique visitors a month and serves a whopping 825 000 pages.<\/p>\n Challenging the bigger players<\/strong><\/p>\n These websites are not yet on par with more established websites that have a social networking component or Web 2.0 features like 24.com<\/a> or MyBroadband<\/a>, but they are quickly becoming challengers to far better funded projects.<\/p>\n Around the world these new upstarts are taking on and surpassing established players in the industry, and the same is likely to happen in South Africa.<\/p>\n A basic overview<\/strong><\/p>\n The following table gives a quick overview of some of the most prominent Web 2.0 websites in South Africa. <\/p>\n Please note that these statistics are based on feedback from the website administrators and were not audited.<\/p>\n\n\n
\n Website<\/font><\/strong><\/td>\n Started<\/font><\/strong><\/td>\n Monthly Unique Visitors<\/font><\/strong><\/td>\n Monthly Page Views<\/font><\/strong><\/td>\n Measurement<\/font><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n <\/font><\/td>\n <\/font><\/td>\n <\/font><\/td>\n <\/font><\/td>\n <\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Afrigator<\/a><\/font><\/td>\n 3 April 2007<\/font><\/td>\n 12 557<\/font><\/td>\n 30 325<\/font><\/td>\n Google Analytics<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Amatomu<\/a><\/font><\/td>\n 21 March 2007<\/font><\/td>\n 10 000<\/font><\/td>\n 70 000<\/font><\/td>\n Custom<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Blueworld<\/a><\/font><\/td>\n 2005<\/font><\/td>\n 55 000<\/font><\/td>\n 825 000<\/font><\/td>\n Google Analytics<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Muti<\/a><\/font><\/td>\n January 2006<\/font><\/td>\n 40 000<\/font><\/td>\n 700 000 <\/font><\/td>\n Custom<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n MyDigitallife<\/a><\/font><\/td>\n 13 April 2007<\/font><\/td>\n 32 000<\/font><\/td>\n 200 000<\/font><\/td>\n Nielsen\/\/Netratings<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n MyVideo<\/a><\/font><\/td>\n 1 January 2007 <\/font><\/td>\n 18 000<\/font><\/td>\n 100 000<\/font><\/td>\n Google Analytics<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Vottle<\/a><\/font><\/td>\n 1 April 2006<\/font><\/td>\n 27 848<\/font><\/td>\n 223 938 <\/font><\/td>\n Google Analytics<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Zoopy<\/a><\/font><\/td>\n 5 March 2007<\/font><\/td>\n 31 467<\/font><\/td>\n 290 537 <\/font><\/td>\n AW Stats<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n <\/font><\/td>\n <\/font><\/td>\n <\/font><\/td>\n <\/font><\/td>\n <\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n