Web 2.0

WHAT IS WEB 2.0?

Design Patterns and Business Models for the next Generation of Software

Web 2.0 is the popular term for advanced Internet technology and applications including blogs, wikis, RSS and social bookmarking.  The two major components of Web 2.0 are the technological advances enabled by Ajax and other new applications such as RSS and Eclipse and the user empowerment that they support.

"Web 2.0" refers to a perceived second generation of web development and design, that facilitates communication , secure information sharing, interoperability and collaboration on the World Wide Web. Web 2.0 concepts have led to the development and evolution of web-based communities, hosted services, and applications such as social-networking sites , video-sharing sites, wikis and blogs.  

Web 2.0 websites allow users to do more than just retrieve information.  They can build on the interactive facilities of ‘Web 1.0’ to provide ‘Network as platform’ computing, allowing users to run software-applications entirely through a browser.  The users can also own the data on the Web 2.0 and exercise control over the data.

Web 2.0 sites often feature characteristics that include: rich user experience, user participation, and dynamic content.  Further characteristics such as openness, freedom and collective intelligence by way of user participation, can also be viewed as essential attributes of Web 2.0.