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Friday TechTip for June 6, 2008: Web 2.0

Posted by techtips on June 6, 2008 in Web Service, TechTips

Good Friday afternoon everyone! After a short tech-tip hiatus due to vacation, I’m back and ready to continue our ongoing discussion.

After reviewing the feedback I received both from the survey I distributed and personal comments, it appears there is a need to delve a little deeper in the meaning of Web 2.0. It’s certainly thrown around very casually, but what does it actually mean?

Here’s what Wikipedia, a quintessential Web 2.0 tool, has to say about the topic:

"Web 2.0 is a term describing the trend in the use of World Wide Web technology and web design that aims to enhance creativity, information sharing, and, most notably, collaboration among users."

This is a rather nebulous statement and can be applied in a vast assortment of scenarios. Here are a few examples: sharing knowledge by updating Wikipedia articles, providing feedback about a product on Amazon, sharing party pictures on Flickr (and commenting on them), pushing out updates on Twitter during campus lockdowns, etc. The list is endless!

Web 1.0 consisted of static pages, sometimes hard to update, that contained information that easily and often became outdated. Web 2.0 instead uses tools and services which makes it much easier to distribute your content as well as keep it up to date. In my opinion, what it really boils down to is that we’re using the web to better understand ourselves and those around us.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll share some of the sites and services with you that are considered to be "best of breed" in the Web 2.0 arena.

I hope this brief explanation has been helpful. This could easily be a VERY lengthy message, so instead, check out the Wikipedia entry! You might find yourself so intrigued that you’ll leave a comment, just look for the "discussion" tab at the very top of the page.