Blog 1 - What is Web 2.0?

The main objective of this article was to try and bring a solid definition to the term “Web 2.0.” As O’Reilly says, “The question is particularly urgent because the Web 2.0 meme has become so widespread that companies are now pasting it on as a marketing buzzword, with no real understanding of just what it means.”

So, how did this article define Web 2.0? And what applications apply the definition of Web 2.0 the best? Those are two important questions I sought to answer in reading this article.

According to the Wikipedia definition, Web 2.0 refers to web development and web design that facilitates interactive information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design and collaboration on the World Wide Web.

Two of the main factors I saw which defined an application as Web 2.0 in this article were a focus on the user and being web-based. In making three different comparisons between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 applications, we can see those two factors shine through in this article.

One of these comparisons was made between Netscape, which was classified as Web 1.0, and Google, which was classified as Web 2.0. O’ Reilly notes that, “Netscape framed "the web as platform" in terms of the old software paradigm: their flagship product was the web browser, a desktop application,” as opposed Google, which, “began its life as a native web application, never sold or packaged, but delivered as a service…” As we can see, O’Reilly suggests that being a web based application, rather than desktop-based software, is a trait unique to Web 2.0.

Another comparison O’Reilly makes is between DoubleClick and Google AdSense. This comparison highlights the user-centered focus of Web 2.0 applications. O’ Reilly feels that DoubleClick, an advertising agency, has become limited because of its Web 1.0 design. He says, “[DoubleClick] bought into the '90s notion that the web was about publishing, not participation; that advertisers, not consumers, ought to call the shots.”

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Google AdSense, a Web 2.0 application, is an advertising agency that is more focused around the user. Rather than a user having to search a traditional Web 1.0 advertising agency for advertisers to pitch your site to, Google AdSense finds advertisers for you, based on the content of your site.