What Is Web 2.0 – The Real Score About...

"What is Web 2.0?" This is a question relating to the Internet that has spurred debates among professionals as well as among regular Internet users. The first time you have come across the term Web 2.0, you may have thought about Web 1.0, or you may have considered it as one of those Internet technical terms that sound so alien to you. Indeed, it has caused confusion to many, as there is no exact definition for it. A lot of articles have also been written about it, and many of these materials have just added to the confusion.

What is Web 2.0, and how is it different from Web 1.0? Let us take owning personal sites and blogging as examples. Web 1.0 is when you post an article on your personal website. On the other hand, Web 2.0 is when you post an article on your blog, others do not just get to see it, but they can also post their comments, and you get to reply to their comments. See the difference?

Simply put, Web 2.0 is the interactive Web. Technically, the Internet has not changed. What has changed, however, is the manner that Internet users interact. If you look back, the Internet is like the pile of encyclopedia in your cabinet. The information is right there on the pages – static, and you are often left with no choice but to just take the information in. How you gather information was made interactive by Web 2.0. You are not confined to being just an content-gathering Web surfer, but you also get to contribute and be one of the sources of information.

Social networking, social bookmarking, blogging, wikis, and podcasts, among other, are known examples of this development in the Internet world. Wikipedia, for instance, allow their users to contribute to the contents of their pages. Social networking, on the other hand, is made to work by Internet users themselves who want to connect with their friends and meet other people by profile sharing, commenting, creating their own network of contacts, and participating in forums and discussions. Internet users become part of the growth of a particular site, hence, they develop a sense of community as well as ownership to the sites they are a part of.

You may encounter technical explanations and ask yourself, "What is Web 2.0, really?" Well, just think of the things that you can do in MySpace or the comments that you leave in your friends' blogs – they are all what Web 2.0 is about.