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What is Web 2.0 ?
This term refers to the ‘new’ generation of websites that enable the user to write to, as well as read from, the web.
A few years ago the web (Web 1.0) was a one-way experience. You could go to the web to read, look at pictures, listen to music or download programs etc. But to publish to the web required certain skills; knowledge of html, web editing programs and FTP.
‘Web 2.0’ sites allow the user to write to, as well as read from. This means that anyone, without any particular skills, can publish to the web. This might be in the form of a blog, a wiki, a podcast or an online ‘presence’ such as those built in Social Networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace.
This two-way process enables the web user to comment on what s/he finds, share his/her ideas and collaborate with others. Wikipedia (itself an example of Web 2.0) describes it in this way:
Web 2.0 refers to a perceived second generation of web-based communities and hosted services — such as social-networking sites, wikis and folksonomies — which aim to facilitate collaboration and sharing between users.
The emergence of Web 2.0 sites has transformed the way the internet is used, with sites such as Facebook and MySpace having millions of users. There are an estimated 50 millions published blogs and young people are using YouTube more than watching TV.
This table compares some of the ways the internet and PC use has changed over the last few years.
Web 1.0
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Web 2.0 |
Read
Download
Consumer
Keep to yourself
Watch
Static pages that don’t change
Locally Installed application
Work on your PC |
Write
Upload
Publisher
Share!
Participate
Dynamic pages that do change
Web based application
Work on the Internet |
Links:
If you are interested in Web 2.0, these links contain lists of hundred of sites and services that could be described under this banner.
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