Web 2.0: What Is It Really?

According to my pal Wiki, "Web 2.0", a phrase coined by O'Reilly Media in 2003, refers to a perceived second generation of web-based communities and hosted services — such as social-networking sites, wikis and folksonomies — that facilitate collaboration and sharing between users. Though the term suggests a new version of the World Wide Web, it does not refer to an update to Web technical specifications, but to changes in the ways systems developers have used the web platform.

As the name suggests, Web 2.0 describes a set of next-generation Internet technologies. It's about social networking, user-generated content, glowing drop-shadowed logos, blogs, AJAX, mashups, and tagging. It's the next revolution on the Web!" These protocols and tools make it easier to create online applications that behave dynamically, much like traditional PC-based software. They're also highly social, encouraging users to manipulate and interact with content in new ways. Web 2.0 pushes computing power off the desktop and onto the Internet, which means less time and money spent on PC software administration. As a general rule, Web 2.0 tools are also less expensive than traditional software — and many are even free. Because they're Web-based, all you need to get started is an up-to-date browser.

People aren't happy with just a site anymore. Now they want it sprinkled with magic fairy Web 2.0 pixie dust before they're happy ;-) But the fact is that NOBODY has any idea what it really is! Ask a dozen tech pundits to describe Web 2.0 and you're likely to get two dozen explanations as to what it is. According to Tim O'Reilly, "Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform." The precise definition remains open to debate.