Web 2.0 is the Shiny Sequel to WWW

The Internet has upgraded? Well, in a way, yes! Originally a term first said in 2004 by O'Reily Media, it has come to be known as the next generation of the World Wide Web that emphasize the community aspect of the Internet. No longer are we just handed things we search for. We can make things that others can search for. The second generation is about becoming one with the World Wide Web-ness of it all. Daisuke Nobukawa in Japan can now be my friend just as easily as Samuel Bishop Watterson from down the street (None of these names are real, just for show).

Taken right from the brainstormed ideas of the group, we can see how this is present today. First of all, our reliance on previous sources like Encarta.com or another Encyclopedia web page is now Wikipedia. Wiki, basically a place for groups to make their own encyclopedic content, is the "People's Encyclopedia." You will find links to more sources there, find sometimes credible information (Carson Daly "sucks" because he is a "Pirate"? No, that would be false. That is where the community editing it can take that down to preserve the credibility of the site). There are also sites like photobucket, youtube, and flickr which allow for the sharing of media, as well as things like Napster, megaupload, and bit torrents to provide file sharing. These are all new aspects of Web 2.0.

Overall it is the change in sites from being places to find info to places that create info. It is in maximizing the possibilities of communication among members of the Web. Web 2.0 is a system in which there is more focus on things that could only exist on the Internet and nowhere else out there. You can find information in books already, but can I find encyclopedic information on the show M*A*S*H? No, because I doubt Encarta or World Book would waste their time with it when putting it into their books. On their CD-ROMs, maybe, but the need for CD-ROM versions is not needed if there is a web version. A push for encyclopedias to move into online format where the people can find more information as well as provide it is part of the spirit that is Web 2.0.

The technology has also a trait now where it is more complex, and yet so much simpler. There are blogs, wiki, bittorents, RSS Feeds and so much more that can be used now.

The Web is evolving, and it will continues to until Web 3.0 develops.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0

http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html