What is Web 2.0? According to Webopedia, “Web 2.0 is the term given to describe a second generation of the World Wide Web that is focused on the ability for people to collaborate and share information online.” Essentially, web 2.0 refers to the synchronous communication that is now available on the Internet. In the past, we would go to a web site that gave us information, but we couldn't give our input. This was a prime example of one-way communication. Now through RSS feeds, Blogs (such as this one), Wikis, etc. we are able to collaborate and communicate in real time. In his book, Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations, Clay Shirky talks about how through the photo-sharing site, Flickr, users were able to post pictures of an event and share their experiences with others. It is examples like this that help us to define what web 2.0 is.

The Internet has changed the way that we communicate with each other. We now have the tools available to communicate meaningfully with many people from all over the world. Our forms of communication are not even limited to written words as in the past. With sites such as YouTube, Flickr, Zoho, Second Life, etc., we now have a variety of communication tools available to us and will continue to reshape how we think about the size of our world.

Is web 2.0 the appropriate name though? By labeling something 2.0, this suggests a complete renovation. You can liken this to any software program. If a completely new version is released, a new version number is given to it. If there are just some changes and updates (such as a an Operating System service pack), a new version number should not be given to the program. Web 2.0 is not a new version of the Internet. Web 2.0 is really just a new way of using the Internet. Calling this new usage of the Internet web 2.0 is a misnomer and was concocted really as a marketing tool. With the growth of technology and speeds, the changes and tools available on the Internet were inevitable. The tools available will continue to grow and give us even more ways to communicate and integrate technology into our lives.

If you would like more information on the history and definition of web 2.0, check out Tim O'Reilly's page here.