Over the last couple of years, the web has changed considerably, not only reshaping the technology landscape, but affecting also the life of many people. From increased opportunities to work from home to electronic ways to keep in touch with old friends, from more daily routine operation performed online (such as buying goods, doing bank operations, using postal services) to the involvement in dating services, one way or another, this change is affecting most of us.

This book doesn't offer a complete overview of how the web is changing and affecting us, but focuses on specific elements. The book started from lectures that I gave on the foundations of online communities in the Web 2.0 landscape, part of an effort to build similar communities for special purpose groups and to solve the communication needs of companies in different markets.

With a lengthy history of participating in communities that stretches back to the early days of CompuServe, a decade of experience in building technical-oriented online communities, a long involvement in partnerships with technical sites (from Amazon to Google Adsense, from PayPal to Skype), a deep understanding of Web 2.0 technologies (as my background is that of a software and web developer), I decided not to focus on the technology itself, but to underscore the trends and possibilities in a book written for non-technical people interested in exploring the social web.

The first chapter of this book covers Web 2.0 technologies through theory and examples; this is followed by chapters providing the building blocks of an online presence and information sharing (blogs, wikis, and more), along with sociological and psychological elements; and the final part of the book (comprising the last two chapters) gets to the key point by covering online communities and their marketing.

Although I do not cover each community in depth, detailing how it works, my goal is to provide a birds-eye view of the social web, rather than focusing an a specific technology. Along with some theory, you'll find a lot of practical information, links to useful sites, and all you'll need to increase your online experience and create your own online presence, if you don't have one already.