Web content is revolutionizing business. Web content is revolutionizing life. Web content is revolutionizing the World.

Skeptical? Not sold? Need proof? Here are some numbers…

• People click on web links 100-billion times per day
• Five of the top 10 most visited websites are user-generated content
sites that did not exist a couple of years ago
• There are well in excess of 100-million accounts on MySpace – and
growing at a rate of nearly 250,000 per day
• If MySpace were a country, it would be in the top 10 most
populous countries on the planet
• 1 out of 8 couples married last year in the U.S. met online
• The number of text messages sent every day exceeds the
population of the planet
• It is estimated that 1.5 exabytes (1.5 x 1018) of new, unique information will be created this year – more than the previous 5,000 years

First, I want to apologize for not posting earlier...with the best of intentions to be a regular contributor, I got caught in a perfect storm of change that threw off my game. Ironically, that perfect storm is also changing my outlook in regard to web content issues, which could lead to some interesting insights.

After more than 15 years and who knows how many web pages and emails...I decided to leave the American Lung Association for a position as the Vice President of eMarketing for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (www.lls.org) . Though it was hard to leave my friends at Lung and my terrific Online Services Team, I'm very excited about my future at LLS!

So, it's with a little irony that I re-read my original post...as the ownership and management issues at LLS are architected somewhat differently than at Lung, the content challenges remain similar. Obviously, I'm hoping to share what I learn in the process --- and encourage anyone who's inspired to, to contribute to that dialogue. It's all about change this week!

I listen to Leo Laporte, The Tech Guy, through his weekly podcasts. The one I listen to most often is taken from one of his many radio shows, the one that now airs on the Premiere Radio Networks. I like him for the most part, and usually pick up something new each time I listen. (He's also on TWiT.TV with other techies).

So in searching for him today I come across a YouTube video, taken from a TV show in which Laporte is talking about msdewey, the Microsoft Live search engine with an attitude.

(You must go to msdewey.com for a laugh. I'm not sure google has anything to worry about, but it's a great alternative when you want a chuckle and you're searching the web.)

So here's what I learned today:

1) Spending way too much time on the computer can be a good thing.

2) Creating an iGoogle personalized page is incredibly easy, but where oh where is the way to add my RSS feeds. C'mon...

3) Laporte gets "pwned" in this video, which I learned, by checking Wikipedia, is not a great thing in the gaming world or in any other world, for that matter.

4) You just gotta love this stuff.

Check out the Laporte video by continuing to read this post.

Those of us in public health or that segment of the pharmaceutical industry involved in cancer care are likely familiar with the concept of "patient navigation." To be honest, until recently I wasn't. But I'm catching up....

It seems the phrase originated with a series of hearings conducted by the American Cancer Society in the late eighties to better understand the needs of this country's poor in regard to access to effective cancer care. For cancer patients especially, early diagnosis is critical to patient outcomes. As you might imagine, their report offered a grim picture of the healthcare challenges facing this underserved group and helped spur change from a number of fronts.

Now, nearly 20 years later, "patient navigation" has grown to include other disease states, as well. Improving outcomes, however, has remained the primary goal.

When I consider the subject of "patient navigation" from a web perspective, I find myself considering a number of factors....who's online, where people are finding information, what tools are most helpful in providing support and how an organization integrates related services are but a few of the key issues that come to mind. Then there's the concept of the navigation itself and how effectively that helps improve outcomes.

All considered, these are big issues that a number of organizations are dealing with. I'm curious to find out more about how others have been approaching this subject....through web design and online community development, especially. For web services groups, there's much available to quantify....but how effectively are we doing that and how can we improve? This seems like a great opportunity to partner with our program and service departments.

Please share your experiences, your thoughts and your advice on improving outcomes online.

I constantly seem to be marvelling and mulling social networks and their adaptations these days. I just read in the Syracuse Post-Standard an interesting article about Meetup.com and a group that was formed by expectant and new moms.

The group grew from a half dozen original members to 60 in a few months, and members now plan and organize walks and play-groups and use the message boards to exchange advice. Some say the tips from other moms is more helpful than the pile of parenting books they have stashed on the bookshelf. Others say they get a huge boost from sympathetic postings when they are at their wit's end when baby Sally or husband Bill won't stop crying for hours.

So what other groups are available to me within 50 miles of my tiny burg of Hamilton, N.Y.?

So here's a new place to mingle online and pick up some great information about being effective communicators: myragan.com.

This social networking site has a raft of features that will help keep you engaged -- forums, job postings, groups, bulletin boards, free web presentations, and more.

I've found some good conversations in the groups I've joined, ranging from podcasting to social media to web content and communication.

Join up and start poking around.

I'm going to write about what I think is an interesting online project because, well, as a partial owner of this blog, I can write about what I want.

At Colgate we just posted an online map that shows where more than 200 members of the Class of 2007 are going after graduation and what they'll be doing, whether it's a job, grad school, or fellowship.

I know Mark R. is probably going to frown (does he swear?) that I didn’t do it sooner, but I finally got around to signing-up for MyRagan.com (sorry, but boatloads of paying clients have to take priority… my wife and mortgage insist!). And I’m not the only one… as of tonight there are already more than 3900 members after only a couple of weeks of existence! Wow!

Firstly, before I end this unpaid advertisement for the *free* membership in MyRagan.com, let me say how impressed I am by how easy it is to sign-up, and how easy it is to use. Some people know me as an ‘intranet guy’ (and that’s how my wife knows me, my children too, friends, the kids across the street, that dog down the block… I do Internet too, I swear!) so I went into the Internal Communications discussion forum (click on “Forums” and then choose “Internal Communications”) to have a look. I noticed Anne in Regina needed some advice on building a business case for an intranet. So I gave her my thoughts and offered to send her my white paper on Intranet ROI. Bang! She got help. And many others are finding help and similar advice, or if you’re Steve Crescenzo, whining about some kind-of-something, too-many-martinis, and a fall off an airplane…

I use Technorati as one of the ways to see how Colgate is being discussed out here on the wide world of the web. It was interesting to see how they've redesigned their homepage. It now lets you check all aspects of what they call the Live Web, which includes blogs, user-generated video, photos, podcasts, music, and games.

The same day they announced the redesign on their blog they also suffered a major network outage. Brought down by the bot army. Ouch.