The way that
the Web is being used nowadays has changed
tremendously over the years. Instead of
merely browsing the Internet, people are
now participating and jointly creating and
publishing content. In other words, while
initially content was mostly "read"
from the Web, content is now more and more
"written" to the Web through blogs,
wikis, communities, tagging and so on.
This is why some people refer Web 2.0 as
"read/write Web". A new
wave of jargons, brands and Web experiences
has thus emerged: MySpace,
Google
Maps, Gmail,
FaceBook,
Wikipedia,
Flickr.com,
del.icio.us
(social bookmarking), Twitter, YouTube,
Mashups, Blogs, and RSS
Newsfeeds, just to name a few.
So what does Web 2.0 really
mean and what impact does it have on us?
The term Web 2.0 is not easily definable.
In fact, there had been quite a few open
discussions and dispute regarding its definition.
Some say Web 2.0 is a perceived second generation
of web-based communities and hosted services.
Others refer it as a platform i.e. a shared
infrastructure and standards such as RSS,
XML, AJAX, API's, structured microcontent,
read/write web tools like blogging and podcasting,
web services, etc., on top of which people
can build communities, collaboration, communication
and commerce. However, others argue that
the term means something different. As the
Birmingham Post put it in December
2005, "Typically, a Web 2.0 service
is one that uses the very latest technologies
to provide a website that works more like
an application on your desktop." And
others suggest it can include the idea of
taking various sources of Web information
and mixing them to make a new interactive
service, for which the term mash-up
(e.g. http://www.netvibes.com/)
has been originated in the music industry.
Perhaps a good way of explaining what Web
2.0 means is to illustrate this concept
in the form of a diagram made by aYsoon
Blog.
As compared with Web 1.0 which was mostly comprised of static HTML pages, Web 2.0 has much richer "content" shared over the Web, establishing a much stronger user participation and interaction (often referred to as "Collection Intelligence") that includes RSS Feeds and the use of social networking sites. Probably the most popular among the latter is MySpace, a Web site that let people create profiles about themselves, embed music, share videos with other friends and post photos, messages and updates about their daily lives. Other social networking sites include Facebook, geared to college students, LinkedIn, aimed at professionals, and Xanga, a blog-based community site.
Below is a reduced version
of a table demonstrating advancements from
1.0 to 2.0 (O'Reilly,
2006)
Web 1.0 |
|
Web 2.0 |
DoubleClick |
→ |
Google AdSense |
Ofoto |
→ |
Flickr |
Content management |
→ |
wikis |
systems |
|
|
Britannica Online |
→ |
Wikipedia |
Personal websites |
→ |
Blogging (Myspace) |
Taxonomy |
→ |
Tagging |
Publishing |
→ |
Participation (youtube) |
Needless to say, Web 2.0 is all about openness and sharing and the demand for "user-generated content" has never been greater. Successful examples that demonstrate the Web 2.0 concepts are:
-
Google: Probably the
most successful company utilizing Web
2.0 concepts. Google learns from user's
links to web sites, as well as user
search behavior, and uses that to deliver
better search results. That's typically
Web 2.0, even though the users are not
conscious that they are "contributing"
to Google. In addition, numerous Google
services are accessible via Web services.
-
Amazon: A mega-large
online bookseller. Amazon revolutionized
book selling in the sense that it had
a strong connection to and involvement
with its user base or customers by enabling
them to write reviews on its books and
other products. It also lists related
buyer recommendations with each of its
online merchandise. "Customers
Who Bought This Item Also Bought,"
is the label familiar to many readers.
In addition, Amazon has developed their
database of book information to the
point where other sites utilize it.
Its data is accessible via public Web
services.
-
eBay: No site provides
a better demonstration of user involvement
than eBay. It grows organically with
user (buyers and sellers) activity,
and the various features of eBay are
available via public Web services.
-
Wikipedia: This site
is the ultimate example of online collaboration.
With more than one million entries,
Wikipedia is the largest encyclopedia
on the Internet. It is a mega-wiki
site that allows anyone on the Internet
to edit the content published on it.
It relies on a great deal of trust but
the idea is that with so many people
providing input on the topics, the data
will remain correct and up to date.
-
Blogging: Another
great example of collaboration and placing
content creation in the hands of the
user. Basically a blog is an online
personal record that is being updated
on an ad hoc or regular basis with new
entries appearing at the top of the
list and old entries can be viewed from
an archive. In other words, anyone with
an Internet connection will be able
to start their own global publication.
RSS has increased the demand of blogs
because they allow users to subscribe
to other people’s blogs so that
they can be notified when new entries
are added. Nokia has produced software
called "Live Blog" which enables
users to publish blog entries whilst
on the move using a mobile phone; it
can also make use of the phone cameras
to add videos and images to their blogs.
-
An example of a technology or approach
to come out of the Web 2.0 is AJAX,
a scripting technique that enables page
content to be updated without the need
for the entire page to be loaded. It
can be very powerful when combined with
technologies such as RSS to produce
live content on a website. Its main
functionality stems from an exploitation
of XMLHttpRequest, a JavaScript class
(with specific properties and methods)
supported by Internet Explorer, Firefox,
and other modern browsers. The
fact that the browsers that support
it have become more common makes AJAX
a popular way of developing powerful
Web applications over the years. A well
known example is Google's Gmail
mail client which uses AJAX to make
a fast-responding email application
i.e. you can delete messages and perform
other tasks without waiting for a new
page to load. Google
Earth and Google
Maps are other examples of successful
AJAX implementation.
The above listed sample
applications and technology are just a sampling
of what is currently available, but it does
provide an idea of what is expected from
the next generation of websites.
Conclusion
Web 2.0 is not an individual
technology but instead is a set of principles
that represents the next step in the evolution
of the World Wide Web. Whether it is referred
to as "Web 2.0"or not, Web applications
and services will continue to develop in
the age of rapid technological advance we
are currently in and become more and more
user orientated. Despite its popularity
and usefulness, like all new technologies,
Web 2.0 has added another dimension of security
risks. We will cover the other side of the
story in the coming issue. Stay tuned!
References
-
What is Web 2.0? (Tim O'Reilly)
http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html
-
Web 2.0 Resources on TechRepublic
http://search.techrepublic.com.com/search/Web+2.0.html
-
Unleashing Web 2.0 : from concepts to creativity (Gottfried Vossen)
-
PC Pro: Features – Web 2.0
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/features/100742/web-20.html?searchString=web+2+0