Web 2.0

What is web 2.0? No, it is not a new version of the internet, but more so, the evolution of what the internet has become. The way the web has evolved is not by means of technical software update, but advancement in the way software engineers and users use the web.  This new revolution of the web allows for a better world for information sharing, collaboration, user-centered design, and interoperability. In web 1.0, users were limited to only viewing of the content and not much more, but with web 2.0, the internet has become more of an interactive experience and a social media in and of itself.

Some differences in Web 1.0 vs. Web 2.0

Characteristic of Web 2.0

The whole point of web 2.0 is to make the web a more collaborative experience for both the creators of websites and the users of those websites. This is the shift towards the web as a platform, and allowing more features through the browser. Instead of the creator providing all the data, the users are able to provide some of the data and be a part of what has been created. The openness is one of the more essential features of web 2.0. However, the freedom made available by web 2.0 allows for “useless” users to contribute as well, for example, trollers and spammers. But the contribution of rational users seem to outweigh the negatives produced by the “useless” users, and provide such an innovative world for people to be a part of.

Breakdown of Web 2.0

Web 2.0 is easily explained as 3 separate parts: 1) Rich Internet Application 2) Web-Oriented Architecture 3) Social Web.

A rich internet application is essentially a web application that is comparable to a desktop application. Often times, rich internet applications use other features, such as extensive use of JavaScript or Adobe Flash, to bring about a better experience.

Web-Oriented Architecture is a way how applications expose their functionality, so other applications may use the same functionality to provide much better applications.

The social web represents the interaction between the application and the user itself, and the idea of social web is to try and integrate the user more so as an integral part of web 2.0.

There are many other features that make up Web 2.0. They are made into an acronym SLATES (Search, Links, Authoring, Tags, Extensions, Signals). Each of these provides an important aspect to Web 2.0, and forms the basic framework of it.

Web 2.0 in the Web

There are certain features that allow the user to also become a contributor.  Some of these features are podcasting, blogging, social networking, and tagging. Through these tools, the emergence of Web 2.0 took place. There are many applications which took on the “2.0” term (Library 2.0, Publishing 2.0, Telco 2.0, etc.).  The use of Web 2.0 in general allows for a better experience for all involved, and allows for better marketability to the users. The chat feature on GMAIL and Facebook allows users to communicate with other users, and that allows for easier marketability and more users are willing to use their services.

Movement into Web 3.0?

There have been arguments about what Web 3.0 really is? Some have said that it will focus more about the computer itself. It will not be the user generating the content, but the computer generating it for you. In theory, Web 3.0 will generate search engines that will be geared towards the users and instead of the users typing.

The future of computing is a very vast and unknown field and who knows what will truly come of it. It seems as though computers will become more advanced, and may become able to think on their own. If that is the case, lets hope a terminator situation doesn’t happen and the world is taken over by robots.