How do people get to grips with Web 2.0?

Andrew McAfee, associate professor, Harvard Business School has posted a very interesting article about the emergence of Web 2.0. He argues that the Web is like an ant colony; the low level activity of Web users is akin to worker ants whose tasks seen at the "local" level will not give the observer clues as to the big picture, but their activities definitely shape the high level structure of the colony. McAfee goes on to say that the high level structure of the Web is built on on the activity of millions of Web users adding links to sites they find useful, and he cites Google's page ranking algorithm as a major factor in this process. But getting to the nub of the title of this post, McAfee asks the question: "What are the best ways to get a Web 1.0 workforce comfortable using Web 2.0 tools?" Well, first of all what is Web 1.0? Think email, shopping carts, search engines and anything that helps numero uno to achieve what it is they went onto the Web to do.And for Web 2.0 think of tools that help the "collective good" move forward. OK, so that's only one element - but it is a major, if not the major element of Web 2.0. And, as it happens, for the forward thinkers it is also a means of helping businesses gain further competitive advantage, but that's another story. Sorry, back to McAfee's question... "What are the best ways to get a Web 1.0 workforce comfortable using Web 2.0 tools?" I know this is not a sophisticated response/answer, but often the answer lies in simplicity. Last week, or maybe the week before, I was keen to talk about del.icio.us to two business associates, John Kirk and Andy Blow. After initially explaining the concept it wasn't until I demonstrated how to use a del.icio.us account that the penny dropped, and the lights came on. After that there was no stopping their thoughts and ideas about how this Web 2.0 tool could be used to good business advantage. So, it's simple really - let's get out there and show/demonstrate to people what it's all about. After all, it's not that complicated, and once folk get their heads round it they'll start to get the BFOs. :)