Web 2.0-What is it?

Web 2.0 refers to the “next generation” of the internet, although the technology isn’t new. Many of the features of Web 2.0 have been around since the internet was invented, but it’s only been in the last few years that the “generation Y” crowd has really begun to maximize its potential.

Web 2.0 is a much more interactive version than the original web 1.0. With web 1.0 websites were largely informational. With web 2.0, sites have become much more interactive through technological advances. Some of the most prominent examples of this include social networking sites like MySpace, Twitter, and Face book or sites such as Flickr or YouTube. These sites, and many more like them, are much more interactive than in the past. You can leave a tweet on Twitter, or write on someone’s wall at Face book or leave comments on media posted on Flickr or YouTube. These are features that were not available with web 1.0.

Things like blogs, podcasts, wikis, and RSS feeds have made web 2.0 very popular. But according to the creator of the world wide web, person to person contact is always what the web was intended to provide and the phrase “web 2.0” is just that…a catch phrase. The technology hasn’t really changed, what has changed is the way that people use it.

Web 2.0 is important for a number of reasons. For starters it has made a variety of functions available that were never available on a large scale before. As more and more people spend more of their time in front of the computer things like social networking sites, blogs and live video chats are becoming more important than ever before. Major companies, universities, celebrities and even some governments are making use of web 2.0 to reach a greater number of people, no matter where in the world they are. The President of the United States, who is famous for being the most technologically advanced of all the American Presidents, has instituted a blog and RSS feed on the official White House page, along with a page where anyone in the world can send an email to the Office of Public Liaison, which handles correspondence for the President. They are also planning more web 2.0 features in the coming weeks and months.

The features of web 2.0 are revolutionizing the way we work and interact. For example, a number of companies are now allowing workers to telecommute. With the high cost of maintaining office buildings, energy costs and ever rising gas prices, it makes more economical sense for workers to be able to work from home and with the features of web 2.0, it’s easier for companies to monitor that their employees are actually working when they are supposed to be. Features like real time video chat and web conferencing people from all over the world can work together without getting on a plane, or even leaving their homes in some cases. Another very popular activity is social shopping. This is usually done through the popular social networking sites. It involves multiple people logging on together to go shopping online, instead of meeting friends at the mall.

As time goes on, and we become increasingly dependent on our computers, the web will no doubt keep up and in fact web 3.0 is in development. I’m sure many people can’t wait to see what it has in store.