Web 2.0 – What is it?

“Web 2.0 is of course a piece of jargon, nobody even knows what it means” (Laningham, 2006 as cited in Anderson, 2007, p5)

Despite the above statement from Sir Tim Burners-Lee, the person credited with creating the world wide web (Anderson, 2007), many individuals have attempted to define Web 2.0, most of these centre around the introduction of interactive websites where users can contribute from their computers around the world (Higginbotham, 2010). Examples of web 2.0 includes, blogs, wikis, facebook, youtube etc.

These websites are referred to as web 2.0 for a number of reasons. These include:

· Interactive elements available to users

· Design of websites is centred on user.

· Promotes two way communication and collaboration

· Easy and quick access from all over the globe (Higginbotham, 2010)

Web 2.0 has had a profound influence on society as a whole, with the introduction of websites such as facebook, where users create their own profiles and connect with their friends wherever they may be, youtube, where users can upload their videos of anything and share them with the world, and blogs, where users can write about their day to day lives or any topic of their choosing for others to read, their impact is being felt in a number of areas. According to Marketwire.com, 4 in 10 workers in the United Kingdom regularly access social networking sites at work, while 26% of workers admitted to spending more than an hour of their work days on these sites (One News Page, 2010).

My next post will provide you with some examples of web 2.0 sites

Thanks for your readership

Russell