Where does Web 2.0 fit in?

Deloitte and eWeek.com report that most web 2.0 tools (including wikis and blogs) are run by marketing departments, but some clamor that these web 2.0 tools should be run by IT professionals. What do you think? 

In my personal experience, each of the clients/companies I’ve worked with/for have placed Online Communities and web 2.0 under different corporate umbrellas. Currently, as a Community Manager I sit under the marketing and communications team, but past clients I’ve worked with have encouraged research, marketing, and development teams to get involved. (Though our team falls under marketing for budget reasons, we all work closely with the product and development teams as well to ensure consistent messaging and communication between consumer and developers.)

Many suggest that web 2.0 should fall under one specific division, but I disagree. I firmly believe that in order for web 2.0, communities, blogs, wikis, etc to truly work, they must be part of the company as a whole– each department should pitch in on some level. This could include a guest author on the company blog, or an online presence in a community by a team of developers or designers in addition to the company’s marketing team. 

Web 2.0 is all about collaboration, embracing strategic thinking, and enabling people who might not typically be on the front-lines to take part in the battle. Based off of this, why wouldn’t you let IT take a piece of the pie and encourage other departments to get involved as well? The goal of most web 2.0 platforms is to think differently and to be different while still fitting in. Why not let your employees think strategically and do the same?

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