The Elusive Web 2.0

source of above image: http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html





This week, our classwork involved exploring "Web 2.0." Not having heard of this thing, place, or person, I began my readings and research. What I found out is that Web 2.0 is a lot like the Wizard of Oz. One does not simply go to, find, or click on Web 2.0.


Defining what Web 2.o is or finding a clear explanation of it on the Web is not an easy task. However, after watching a lot of YouTube videos and reading a lot of Web sites that promise to define or explain Web 2.0, at least now I know what it is not, (Web 1.0, of course) and I can make an educated guess as to what it is. Web 2.0 is a collective term for the myriad interactive tools that are available on the Internet today ( I think).


Before doing this week's readings, I was expecting Web 2.0 to be a single program or Web site, but I soon found that this is not the case. All of the readings for the week were very informative about what Web 2.0 tools are available and how these can be used in the classroom, but I still didn't understand exactly what the term Web 2.0 means. I tried watching this video, but it was a little over my head. All I got out of that video is that Web 2.o is a "marketing tool," but for what or whom I still do not know. This video and this Web site explain the differences between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0, which is very helpful but not quite definitive. A major clue offered by the aforementioned Web site is that something classifies as Web 2.o if it "harnesses collective intelligence."


It seems that anything that simply provides information but is not interactive or edited by sharing is considered Web 1.0 (and passe). Web 2.0 has something to do with shared authorship and community publishing. After examining several of the Web 2.o tools and identifying their common "thread," I decided that Web 2.o is a term to collectively describe the many modern tools and sites on the Web that allow people to publish information on the Internet and allow others to comment/edit in some way, making the process interactive. Examples would include blog sites, video sites (YouTube, TeacherTube), Google Docs, social networking sites (Facebook, MySpace, Delicious), wikis, and photo sharing sites (Flikr, Photobucket). As far as the marketing part of the defintion is concerned, I think what the experts were trying to say is that a lot of Internet companies advertise their applications, services, and platforms as being Web 2.0 (in order to sound current) when they are really not. How to tell if something is not Web 2.0, I'm not 100% sure- maybe if there is no opportunity for interaction and shared authorship.


By the way, I don't know the differences between "applications," "services," and "platforms." These are all terms that I encountered when trying to define Web 2.o. If anyone understands this stuff and can tell me if I am on the right track, I would greatly appreciate it!