Web 2.0

In recent years, Web 2.0 has become a new Internet buzzword, capturing the imagination of many and promising a new era of connectedness, commerce, and democracy. But what is Web2.0 and what are the promises it makes?

Web 2.0 is defined at itp.net as a way to describe "online activities, sites, and applications that allow individuals to interact in online communities, directly exchange information with one another, and create their own content online." Whilst many struggle to simply understand the basics of the Internet, such as browsing static web pages and checking email, advocates of Web 2.0 technologies suggest that a new age is now with us where using the Internet is now a far more exciting, vibrant, and user-friendly experience. In classic Web 2.0 style, the video "The Machine is Us/ing Us (Final Version)", demonstrates how Internet technologies have evolved to allow information to be shared across the web in ways that have not previously been imagined. Whereas prior to Web 2.0, the Internet contained static hyper-linked pages, new technologies and protocols such as XHTML, AJAX (Asynchronous Javascript and XML), RSS (Real Simple Syndication), and mobile Internet applications have allowed people to connect in ways that were previously unimaginable.

Social networking sites, such as Facebook, Myspace, and Friendster all provide users with an online destination that can be personalised, and where people can share photos, videos, music, and a host of other personal information. Additionally, sites such as Youtube and Flickr, which provide spaces to upload videos and photographs, and Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia that almost anyone can update, could each be described as "being" Web 2.0. In each of these examples the site allows the user to add, modify, and control their own content; and it is this feature that is arguably at the centre of the Web 2.0 concept. Although these sites may allow such control, one might well ask what are the advantages and risks involved in such technologies?

"One of the most highly touted features of the Web 2.0 era is the rise of blogging", suggests Oreilly Media. Through blogs, they argue, people can now publish their thoughts and feelings onto the Internet, and, with the benefit of RSS feeds, have their message read by any number of web surfers. According to Mike Wolcott at bnet, this powerful new media provides for the "bottom-up" generation of information and allows self publishing by individuals; and this, it could be argued, tends to create a democratising affect. As an example Jeremy Wright, author of Blog Marketing:The revolutionary way to increase sales, build your brand and get exceptional results, cites the Kryptonite locks scandal, where a class action law suit against one of the best-selling producers of bike locks resulted from a single person blogging about the way in which the locks could be picked with a simple ballpoint pen.

Whilst this may be an extreme example of the power of blogging, and Web 2.0 technologies, there are many other critical developments on the horizon which could see significant changes in the manner in which we work. Google is currently in the beta stages of developing a suite of personal productivity applications - all of which are free - that could one day end the powerful monopoly held by Microsoft through their Office range of products.

Whilst Web 2.0 may "just" be a buzzword, it is important that anyone involved with the Internet - not just IT workers and software developers - keep themselves abreast of developments on this subject. The speed at which innovation is taking place, and the implications of missing a trend, make keeping informed an imperative.