Web 2.0 is a term being thrown around a variety of Internet circles. Yahoo! recently opened up My Web 2.0, which is a bit of a clone of del.icio.us, a site which is definitely in-line with Web 2.0. Google has certainly helped the Web 2.0 community with Google Maps, gMail, and their auto-complete feature for search, and MSN has been very Web 2.0 in their attitude with the release of their new Creative Commons licensed ESS (a new bi-directional RSS technology). There is even a conference dedicated to the topic.

Just what is Web 2.0? There are plenty of people who are extremely excited about Web 2.0 and everything associated with it. There are also plenty of people who listen to all the talk about Web 2.0 and dismiss it as nothing more than the latest fad to hit the Internet.

With all the attention Web 2.0 has been getting recently, it is definitely worth becoming familiar with the topic.

What is Web 2.0?

It is very possible that you have not heard the term Web 2.0 just yet, but trust me, it will be a term that you hear much more frequently in the near future. Web 2.0 is very hard to define as it is not so much of a specific technology or a specific application. Rather, Web 2.0 is more of an attitude, or an approach to the web. Unfortunately describing everything that Web 2.0 looks at is too large for the scope of this article. Fortunately, though, O'Reilly has a great article expaining Web 2.0. However, if you don't feel like reading a lengthy five page article on the subject, here is a brief synopsis of some of the more important aspects of Web 2.0.

First, it is important to note that Web 2.0 is more than just a vague term that is being used by Internet marketers and website developers. As I said earlier, Web 2.0 is more of an attitude, or a way of approaching the Internet rather than a specific technology or service. In fact, Web 2.0 encompasses several new technologies and services. Websites such as Flickr, Google Maps, Del.icio.us, Yahoo's new My Web 2.0, and 43 Things are all very Web 2.0. In addition, services and technologies such as contextual ad publishing, Ruby on Rails and AJAX, and BitTorrent are very much in the spirit of Web 2.0.

When thinking about Web 2.0, it is good to think about the history of the Internet. During the 1990's, we saw an incredible boom in the growth of the Internet. As companies jumped into what was then a largely unknown and untested medium, they brought with them business models that worked well in the regular world, but did not have as much success in the virtual world. Then the dot-com bubble burst occurred, and with it unsuccessful business models had their flaws revealed. As an Internet community, we got to see what really worked and what did not work. What was left after the Internet bubble burst was a set of lessons learned, and a foundation to build the web upon. This, in its essense, is the basis for Web 2.0.

In the O'Reilly article referenced above, they go over a few principles of Web 2.0. The following is a trimmed down list of these principles. Not every Web 2.0 site will have all of these qualities, but each of these qualities are aspects of Web 2.0.

1.Reliance on Communities of Users
Services such as del.icio.us, 43 Things, or Wikipedia have all grown based on a reliance of a community of users. Wikipedia, for one, relies on users to add new entries and to edit existing entries with updated information. Del.icio.us and 43 Things (as well as many other services) are now employing what is known as 'tagging', or rather organization by folksonomy. The idea behind folksonomy is fairly simple. A community based site such as del.icio.us relies on users applying keywords or phrases to classify web pages rather than offering strict categories. These sites then look over all the applicable keywords and overlap them to find congruence. The lesson they have learned is that a community of millions of users offering their input does a fairly good job of organizing content into keywords and phrases.

2.Re-Usability and Syndication – Getting Back to the Free Internet

Shortly after the Internet bubble burst, venture capitalists shied away from any Internet company that did not have a solid plan for making money. One of the greatest failures of the 90's era Internet was the inability to effectively monetize web traffic. Companies were quick to offer free information and services hoping to grow in popularity, but they lacked any real plan of how they would make money from that popularity. With the introduction of contextual ads and new ways to monetize traffic, free is back.

In fact, offering free information is not where things end in Web 2.0. In the next version of the Internet, offering freely re-usable information is the ticket to having success. You have, by now, probably read a handful of articles on why RSS is important (and probably skipped over hundreds of other articles). There is a reason people are so excited about RSS - it offers a real technology that is helping bring the Internet to its next generation. Now Microsoft has ventured to offer ESS, a bidirectional version of RSS (ESS is a subject that deserves its own close look), which they are releasing under the Creative Commons license (again, note how this technology is being offered as something that can be freely reproduced and tinkered with). Applications such as Google maps are being used in what is known as 'mashups'. These applications are able to be 'mashed up' because they are made in such a way that they are very open to being reproduced and 'hacked' easily. To see an example of a mashup, check out this mashup of the game Risk with Google Maps.

3.Rich User Interfaces
Probably the most visible aspect of Web 2.0 are the extremely rich user interfaces that we now find on so many websites. One goal of Web 2.0 is to make the web more user-friendly and less difficult to use. As a result, large-type buttons, bolder colors, and an emphasis on either a rich graphical design or an emphasis on a minimalism that is visually appealing are all back as strong elements in Web 2.0. Andrew Faulkner of AspiraMedia, who also happens to be one of the more active participants of our Site Reference Forums, looks at a lot of the web design elements that are making their way into the maintstream Internet in the spirit of Web 2.0.

Beyond simple design elements, however, lies an interactivity with the web that we have never seen before. Technologies such as AJAX, which even though it has been around for 10+ years, are becoming more and more mainstream. Google has heavily implemented AJAX to create Google Maps, gMail, and auto-complete, and continues to implement AJAX throughout their services. Yahoo also is implementing various AJAX features with the goal of making the users experience easier and richer.

Again, explaining everything that Web 2.0 encompasses could take an entire article. The definitive article on what Web 2.0 really is can be found at O'Reilly's website and is an interesting read. Just be sure to read it after you finish this article. :)

Not Everyone is a Believer

Web 2.0, at least in theory, sounds like a great advancement for the Internet community. After all, the idea of freely shared information, expanded usability and user-friendliness of websites, and a general democratic approach to determining how the web should be organized sounds like a virtual Utopia to many. Yet not everyone shares this same vision and many people pass off Web 2.0 as yet another fad.

The Internet community is no stranger to fads. Just as buzzwords circulate through the business world, buzzwords hit the Internet industry with force. Words such as scalability, portals, and community building were all buzzwords just a few years ago. These words, although highly important at their time, are now considered archaic at best.
With the rise of Web 2.0, there have been several detractors to this latest fad. One website, Go Flock Yourself (Flock is a Web 2.0 browser), has set itself up as the 'anti-Web 2.0' blog. This is not the only site to poke fun at the Web 2.0 community. Nick over at Threadwatch.org pointed out his disappointment when hearing about Go Flock Yourself. He was not disappointed that the blog existed, just that he did not come up with the idea. Even the highly respected Jason Kottke mentioned his lack of excitement over “the new Internet”.

Why are these people turning their noses up at Web 2.0? Simply because they have seen fads come and go before on the Internet. For those people who have been working on the Internet for some time, we have learned that the web is constantly changing, and changing at a breakneck pace. If you take the time to read the O'Reilly article on Web 2.0, you will notice one very important aspect of Web 2.0 – the changes that Web 2.0 is supposed to bring about have already been in motion since before we coined the phrase.

What does this mean exactly? It simply means that someone has been able to identify several trends of the Internet and apply a catchy name. Web 2.0 exists without it having a name. RSS, AJAX, Ruby on Rails, mashups, foksonomy would all exist without sites dedicated to Web 2.0 or special conferences bearing impressive guest speakers. Applying the term Web 2.0 gives these trends a certain level of 'fad'. And as Web 2.0 has become the 'in' thing, we will inevitably endure all the bad things that come with a fad, which is why Web 2.0 has its detractors.

What Does this Mean For Your Future on the Internet?

So is Web 2.0 a legitimate shift in the way we approach the web? Absolutely. Web 2.0 has legitimacy because it existed before anyone ever coined the phrase Web 2.0.

But this does not mean that it is not a fad. When looking at the new technologies that Web 2.0 is brings to the forefront, it is important to keep a sense of practicality. Not every Web 2.0 company that starts up is going to see wild success. In fact, as with all companies, we will certainly see many of them fail. But, as people who are involved with the Internet, we will all be effected by Web 2.0.


It is interesting to note that Go Flock Yourself, the website dedicated to being anti-Web 2.0, uses a blog to spread their message. Blogs are definitely a trendy development, and can easily be considered a part of Web 2.0 (the O'Reilly article specifically mentions blogs as Web 2.0). Regardless of how much someone may dislike the trendiness of Web 2.0, there is no denying that it is changing the way we manage the Internet.

So as you look over your website and review how you can improve your user's experience, do not be afraid to look at implementing some of the principles of Web 2.0. Staying modern is one of the many keys to success on the Internet. Just be sure to keep a sense of realism about the changes you make, keeping in mind that with every trend there is both substance and hype.

Mark Daoust is the owner of Site Reference.

Web 2.0 - Fad or the Future? may be reproduced only with the permission of Site Reference. Portions of this article may be reprinted freely as long as they include a link back to the original article found at Site Reference.

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