What is Web 2.0?

I’m giving a presentation on Tuesday to a group of sales people who work for a news distribution company looking at exploiting Web 2.0 tools. One of the things they want to know is “What is Web 2.0?”. You can use the standard definition propagated by the followers/disciples of Tim O’Reilly, who see Web 2.0 as the emergence of Web-based services. But is this too broad of a definition for people grappling with the idea of collaboration tools, Wikis, blogs, video-sharing, etc.? I mean, the echo chamber understands Web 2.0 and us “insiders” are gulping down the Kool-Aid as quickly as new cool Web 2.0 services can be produced. But what about everyone else? What about all those people still on the outside looking in – otherwise known as the mainstream?

To me, an basic definition of Web 2.0 is it’s active/dynamic Web; the place where people do things. This is different from Web 1.0, which was static and mostly involved accessing material that you would have otherwise had to have read in a newspaper, magazine or book (and all those flawed IPOs made by companies with little revenue and but lots of hype). One of the most creative ways to explain Web 2.0 and how it’s changing the Internet is this video, which I’ve watched several times already. The video was created by Michael Wesch, an Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology at Kansas State University. (Hat tip to Somewhat Frank for giving the video some much-warranted attention)

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6 Comments

  1. Posted February 4, 2007 at 9:49 pm | Permalink

    Web 3.0 – Web 1.0 = Web 2.0?

  2. Posted February 4, 2007 at 10:18 pm | Permalink

    Depending on who defines it, Web 2.0 is any combination of the following: focusing on the user (usability, accessibility, user-generated content, user interaction), a style of web design (bright, ample whitespace, large text), a business model (start-up funding, viral marketing, built-for-acquisition), and technology (AJAX, web applications, RSS, web video)

    I like to think of Web 2.0 mostly as the first one, focusing on the user. Really, focusing on the user is the only thing that is an absolute. Web design fads will change, technologies will improve, business models come and go, but you always need the user.

  3. Posted February 5, 2007 at 8:24 am | Permalink

    I like those definitions. If you don’t mind, I’d like to borrow the idea for my presentation.

    Mark

  4. Posted February 5, 2007 at 8:39 am | Permalink

    Interesting you are giving a presentation about Web 2.0 tomorrow. I just had one last week, and like in your case, it was about just an overview of the phenomenon. So it’s not in depth with numbers and explaining what this means to companies. That is something I would separate as a question from an overview presentation.

    http://www.corebasis.com/web2

    If you like, you can use my presentation. I have updated it last week, and it might change slightly within the next couple of days. But I ran this version to a strategic planner, who is a friend of mine, and she gave me a positive feedback.

    Let me know how it works out, should you use some of this material. You will find my contact information on the connect page on my website, http://www.corebasis.com.

    Good luck with your presentation!

  5. Posted February 5, 2007 at 9:14 am | Permalink

    Sure, go ahead.

  6. Posted February 5, 2007 at 10:10 pm | Permalink

    Paul, Henning:

    Thanks!

One Trackback

  1. By Social Media Explorer : What Does Web 2.0 Mean? on October 17, 2007 at 9:28 pm

    [...] friends, bosses and clients can be daunting. Thanks to Ed Lee at Blogging Me/Blogging You and to Marc Evans at MarcEvansTech.com, plus Frank Gruber at Somewhat Frank for directing us to Cultural Anthropologist (there’s a [...]

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