Our species thrives on speed and efficiency. As James Gleick's book, "Faster: The Acceleration of Just About Everything," implies, we are "instant" addicts of the manic 20th century. The need for instantaneous transfer of information is in our veins and it translates to our creation of technology and the web. A term being coined as the "real-time web" gives meaning to the drive that has already been there, but as it relates to the web.

What is real-time web?

As Wikipedia states, "real-time web is a set of technologies and practices which enable users to receive information as soon as it is published by its authors, rather than requiring that they or their software check a source periodically for updates." Real-time web is used to categorize the new web services that have emerged on the scene: Twitter, FriendFeed, Posterous, PBWorks, and many more.

Why should you care?

• Microsoft and Google will be indexing real-time content
• Yesterday, Bing announced its deals with Twitter and Facebook to index status updates, while Google followed suit saying it would start indexing Twitter updates.
• Products/services with real-time web functionality are vigorously popping up. Browse ReadWriteWeb's list of Top 100 Real-time web companies
• Mobile web is the now and the future. Mobile users want instant information.
• "The Man Who Made Gmail Says Real-Time Conversation is What's Next"

You can find tons more information about real-time web by reading articles tagged with "real-time web" on ReadWriteWeb.

Tip: Whether or not your business can integrate aspects of real-time web, be aware of the trend. Pay attention to new companies/services that start popping up, look for new opportunities and discover applications for your own business.

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