What is Web 2.0 ?

Since the term was coined at an O'Reily media conference in 2004, “Web 2.0” has been defined and redefined a million times. Ra...

AFTER FOUR YEARS THE TERM “WEB 2.0” HAS ENTERED THE MAINSTREAM BUT UNDER MANY GUISES.

Since the term was coined at an O’Reily media conference in 2004, “Web 2.0” has been defined and redefined a million times. Rather than add to the list, let me share two of the definitions that I think come closest to defining what it is all about:

“Web 2.0 – A term often applied to a perceived ongoing transition of the World Wide Web from a collection of websites to a full-fledged computing platform serving web applications to end users.  It refers to a supposed second-generation of Internet-based services—such as social networking sites, wikis, communication tools, and folksonomies—that emphasize online collaboration and sharing among users.” (Source: 2020 Systems)

“Web 2.0 generally refers to a second generation of services available on the World Wide Web that lets people collaborate, and share information online. In contrast to the first generation, Web 2.0 gives users an experience closer to desktop applications than the traditional static Web pages. The term was popularized by O’Reilly Media and MediaLive International as the name for a series of web development conferences that started in October 2004. Web 2.0 applications often use a combination of techniques devised in the late 1990s, including public web service APIs (dating from 1998), Ajax (1998), and web syndication (1997). They often allow for mass publishing (web-based social software). The term may include blogs and wikis. To some extent Web 2.0 is a buzzword, incorporating whatever is newly popular on the Web (such as tags and podcasts), and its meaning is still in flux.” (Source: Design Law)

The Web 2.0 mind map graphic above was constructed by Markus Angermeier in 2005. Although a little dated, it sums up some of the key ingredients of Web 2.0. (Source: Wikipedia).

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