Introduction

What is the Social Web? The answer to this question may surprise you: the Social Web is not a trend, nor is it a "killer application" or a case of hype. And nevertheless, it is something totally new. The Social Web means nothing less than the practical realization of all the goals and visions that people associated with the budding Internet over 15 years ago. The Web has become interactive - and not just in the technical sense. Predefined roles are changing, as users and consumers become providers in a different context. Every active participant can play an active role in shaping the Internet. One example consists of personal profiles or your own video which can be called up by millions of other users.

The shaping of the Internet by its own user community is set to play a major role in the future evolution of the medium. Particularly in a global context, the Social Web has become an absolute fixture. This was the motivation for producing this special report for Digital Lifestyle Day 2007, featuring some exclusive findings on the evolution of the Social Web as contained in the "Deutschland Online 4" study. 115 experts and 6,347 consumers were surveyed for the study.