Weekly Reading

Jan. 27 What is Web 2.0?

Is Web 2.0 really different from what went before?

What I think of Web 2.0 to be is the next step in the WWW evolving into a more dynamic networking platform. Where web 1.0 was more for browsing and reading (users were on standby) web 2.0 makes the www more interactive and relevant. We the users have become contributors to a platform that defines what we want to see or feel.

How so?

If we use the analogy of movies in 2D versus movies that are being shown 3D we can make the visual comparisons right away. The image on the screen comes to life in 3D and makes viewing the movie move beyond the traditional experience.  If we relate this to Web 1.0 versus Web 2.0 I can see the difference in how the WWW is evolving. It seems like the WWW is getting its “Second Life” if you will and we are part of that evolvement. It’s taking the static concept of web social networking to the next level of user contribution and interaction.

What is the technology behind Web 2.0?

To quote directly from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0#Technology_overview

“The complex and evolving technology infrastructure of Web 2.0 includes server-software, content-syndication, messaging-protocols, standards-based browsers with plugins and extensions, and various client-applications. These differing but complementary approaches provide Web 2.0 with information-storage, creation, and dissemination capabilities that go beyond what the public formerly expected of Web sites.

A Web 2.0 website typically features a number of the following techniques:

Ajax-based rich Internet application techniques

Non-Ajax-based rich Internet application techniques

CSS

Semantically valid XHTML markup and/or the use of Microformats

Syndication and aggregation of data in RSS/Atom

Clean and meaningful URLs

Extensive use of folksonomies (in the form of tags or tagclouds, for example)

Weblog publishing

Mashups

REST or XML Webservice APIs “