Web 2.0 is term that is closely related to Tim O’reily because of the O’reily media web 2.0 Conference in 2004. Web 2.0 according to Wikipedia refers to web development and web design that facilitates interactive information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design and collaboration on the World Wide Web. Examples of Web 2.0 include web-based communities, web applications, social-networking sites, video-sharing sites, wikis, blogs, and mashups. The term all though implying that there is a new World Wide Web, it merely relates to the changes in how software developers and end-users the web. Previously the typical website interact with its users by simply providing information for them to view, where as in today’s Web 2.0 arena website users are interacting with others users and sometimes able to change the website’s content.
While many have taken to the term Web 2.0, there are many opponents of the term. Some claim that Web 2.0 is a trend that is building steadily, while some argue Web 2.0 is just old technologies being used under a new name. The inventor of the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee has challenged the definition and called the term a “piece of jargon”. Defining characteristics of Web 2.0 such as users collaborating with each other on Social Networking sites was originally intended for the internet he argued. Websites such as Amazon was already implementing user-generated content in the form of book reviews before the term Web 2.0 was coined – We are just at a later stage of Web 1.0.
One of the prominent figures on the pro-side of Web 2.0, O’reily has acknowledged that there are some sufficient exceptions to Web 2.0, such as Amazon to suggesting that less than a full generation shift had occurred. He outlined the details that differentiate Web 2.0 from Web 2.0 in 2005. You can read about the differences in this article.
Whether Web 2.0 is new technology or old technology, the way that web applications are being implemented today has changed the way we use the World Wide Web. With the wide spread of information between end-users on the web, people are being educated on various topics at much faster rate than before. Seeing how website users collaborate and communicate with ease via these so called Web 2.0 apps, Social Networking sites and other tools, businesses have began to take advantage of this new medium to market their brands. Social Media Marketing or Social Influence Marketing is the fastest growing form online advertising today.
