Most Influential Women in Web 2.0

By: Saabira ChaudhuriNovember 6, 2008

(L to R: Leah Culver, Pownce; Rashmi Sinha, Slideshare; Dina Kaplin, blip.tv; Marissa Mayer, Google; Cyan Banister, Zivity; Lisa Stone, Jory Des Jardins, and Elisa Page, BlogHer; Caterina Fake, Flickr; Gina Bianchini, Ning; Kaliya Hamlin, OpenID; Mena Trott, Six Apart; Arianna Huffington, the Huffington Post.)

Women have been heavily instrumental in redefining the way we interact online. Here's a look at the most influential of these.

Marissa Mayer, Google | Courtesy of Google

Caterina Fake, formerly of Flickr | Courtesy of Caterina Fake

Dina Kaplan

What she's done: Kaplan is the co-founder and COO of blip.tv, a platform for producers to distribute original shows on the Web. Blip.tv was the initial platform for Wall Strip video blog, which was bought by CBS for $5 million last May. Under its model, producers don’t need Nielsen to know how their audience feels -- viewers of shows delivered via blip.tv can comment, favorite, and share content.

How she got there: A graduate of Wesleyan College with a degree in economics, government, philosophy and history, Kaplan worked a couple of jobs in the White House before landing a job as an Associate Producer for MTV news. She later went on to work as a TV reporter for NBC, before finally being recruited to join the team that started blip.tv.

What to learn from her: If you're trying to launch a new venture or just get noticed, Kaplan thinks the best thing you can do is just listen. "Listening is way more valuable than talking. When blip.tv first launched, we learned this the hard way. We got no users for the first month." When you do talk, "ask questions, ask what problem do you have that we could solve? What's missing?" This way you can find a viable niche and make your mark, or a void and fill it.

Elisa Camahort Page, Jory Des Jardins, and Lisa Stone

What they've done: Five years ago, most female bloggers didn't view their dispatches as anything more than an avocation. There was no community, and the scope for interaction was limited. Then three women came along and changed things. Elisa Camahort Page, Jory Des Jardins and Lisa Stone set up BlogHer, initially a conference aiming to provide empowerment and create community by bringing women bloggers together offline. Now BlogHer is also a full-time community for women on the Web to come together online, regardless of subject matter.

How they got there: Page, who has a theatre degree from San Jose State University, held various jobs in commodities and high tech, before starting her own blog, Worker Bees, to help organizations use blogs as communications and marketing tools. Des Jardins, who has a BA in English Literature from the University of Illinois, worked in a variety of media jobs before BlogHer. Stone graduated from Wellesley with a degree in Political Science, worked at the Oakland Tribune, CNN and Women.com (later acquired by iVillage). In 2001, she became the first Internet journalist ever awarded a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University. She later went on to help launch, American Lawyer Media, Law.com's legal blog network, Knight Ridder Digital's Thatsracin.com, and Glam Media.

What to learn from them: If you have a company or brand the best catalyst for success is to start communicating. "There are no spectators, whether you're a new start-up or a 100-plus year-old brand. Start writing, commenting and participating right now. Whether or not your company has a blog or participates in social media, your competitors and your consumers definitely do," says Stone.

Arianna Huffington

What she's done: With the launch of her eponymous group blog, Huffington transformed news delivery into a conversation. Launched initially as a left-leaning, politics-focused aggregate blog in 2005 (often seen as the antidote to the Drudge Report), the Huffington Post went on to incorporate original reporting and widen its focus to include media, business, the environment and other areas. With posts from hundreds of bloggers, including big-name celebrities like Alec Baldwin, Adam McKay and Jamie Lee Curtis, the site has succeeded in securing reader engagement and commentary on an unprecedented scale.