Web 2.0 - State of Mind?

by Simon

The concept of Web 2.0 is elusive to most of us, and keeps expanding constantly with the advent of new online services. Web 2.0 is basically a methodology of using the Internet as a platform for connecting needs with services through an ever-expanding architecture. The platform concept is important because it evokes a foundation to be further built upon, unlike the self-containment limitations that held back the original Internet.

Web 2.0 is an evolutionary platform that supports extensions as it expands. Thus, it can achieve highly complex functions using basic steps, as far as users are concerned. Developers are finding new services to integrate as the technology matures. What we see now as Web 2.0 cannot be deemed complete; it is always growing and reinventing itself.

When the world wide web hit the mainstream, it was touted as being the revolution in communication. The Internet connected people worldwide like never before, and this was paramount in molding the way of life in the 21st century.

However, Web 2.0 takes the connectivity to another level, beyond simply communicating interests and ideas. The platform is distinct and significant in that it promotes creation in connectivity. Digital media, software, and services thrive more easily in such a highly interconnected environment.

Since it is so ubiquitous, Web 2.0 supports the distribution of created products and services. Users have universal access across the platform regardless of who they are or where they live. This technology breaks down the barriers of specialisation to encourage all varieties of users to participate in the creation process.

By connecting developers and users, executives and laypeople, Web 2.0 is quickly blurring the line between those who produce and those who consume. The network-based methodology opens new doors for users collaborating. Individual users and entire communities can work together creatively in unprecedented ways.

One of the most significant facets of Web 2.0 is that the creation it inspires can be continuously built upon. A primary philosophy has been to build the network in a modular fashion, allowing creation to be exponential and multiply itself. In other words, whenever creation takes place, it can be taken and built upon by other users. This increases its evolution and user collaboration. In turn, the collaboration encourages a services architecture, where the constant communication and participation of users on all ends of the spectrum changes the sharing of goods into a service itself.

Web 2.0 can be viewed as a return to the original ideals of the Internet in the results of connectivity and collaboration between users worldwide. For the most part, Web 1.0, in effect, consisted of stand-alone websites by specialised vendors trying to expand their customer base. It was more of an advertising tool than a creative tool.

Web 2.0 turns the focus back to creation built from cumulative collaboration.