ANTenna Blog -- Internet/Web

Introducing Web 2.0 elements to your website -- blogs, wikis, live chats, chat rooms – is a great way to connect with your customers and create a community of users. But once you establish that connection and create that community, you'll need to tread carefully. Because now your customers can let you --and often your other customers -- know exactly what they think.

The New York Times' Media Talk column tells a story that could serve as a cautionary tale for smaller businesses looking to get into the Web 2.0 world. Joanne Kaufman writes about the Urban Baby Web site, which got a "sudden redesign" last week. The core of the site is its chat board and many of the regular commentators were "furious" writes Kaufman, over the changes and organized a boycott of the chat board.

The boycott wasn't that effective -- "The faithful returned, out of boredom, addiction or mere curiosity," writes Kaufman – but its effort speaks to the exposure a smaller business has once it opens itself up through chat rooms, wikis, and other Web 2.0 tools.

The regulars came back to Urban Baby but they didn't make it easy: Writes Kaufman, "Though they did not stay away, the Urban Baby fans did proceed to do what they do best: complain. There have been more than 1,000 posts registering displeasure with the new design, which was introduced May 8, according to Justine Reese, senior product manager at CNet Networks, the owner of the site. And some former users have even set up a site that mimics the old interface, at YouBeMom.com."

The changes were part of a tech upgrade – users don't like the new color scheme, the new message board system, and new default settings -- and the fact that they were introduced without any warning was probably a big part of the problem. And while Kaufman quotes Jane Goldman, a vice president at CNet, who says the changes are here to stay, already Urban Baby changed something: Kaufman writes that "the field for writing a post, which had been narrowed, has been widened."

That's life in the Web 2.0 world.