What is Web 2.0?

When I first began writing this blog, I limited it to blogging related topics. Since then, it's evolved into writing about anything that happens to involve Web 2.0. I realize many people might not know what Web 2.0 is, though, and so here is my attempt at explaining it.

The term Web 2.0 began at a conference in 2004 or some such. I honestly don't know the details, nor care. There's confusion about what Web 2.0 means, whether it means anything, and even whether people should stop saying it. Here's my definition, nonetheless.

Basically, Web 2.0 is a way of thinking about the web. It is not any specific thing but more of a general term describing the way the web is changing towards being more interactive. Where once websites were basically put up by one person or company for visitors to come and view the information there, websites are now being built around visitor participation and the sharing of information by several people all at once.

I read a great example of this at O'Reilly that makes it all the more understandable. Instead of websites like Ofoto and Shutterfly, there's Flickr and Riya. Static websites have been replaced by blogs. Traditional banner advertising is now contextual text ads through AdSense and YPN. Dictionary.com has been pushed aside by Wikipedia. Traditional categories are being replaced by free tagging. And on and on.

This is what the web was meant to be, I feel like. And while it isn't a new idea and has been emerging before it was coined as "Web 2.0", it's good to see the trend continuing. Some people will say things such as a website design using rounded corners is Web 2.0, or a successful website launched by an individual or small group of people rather than a corporation is Web 2.0, or, hell, even that using too much punctuation is an indication of it (according to the Web 2.0 Validator, anyway).

Whatever the case may be, it's a continuing trend that is fascinating, and even frightening. And this blog is dedicated to Reporting 2.0.

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