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WEB 2.0
and leverage them to help your business?
What is Web 2.0 The term "Web 2.0" is commonly associated with web applications which facilitate interactive information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design and collaboration on the World Wide Web. Examples of Web 2.0 include web-based communities, hosted services, web applications, social-networking sites, video-sharing sites, wikis, blogs, mashups and folksonomies. A Web 2.0 site allows its users to interact with other users or to change website content, in contrast to non-interactive websites where users are limited to the passive viewing of information that is provided to them. Web 2.0 does not refer to any specific change in the technology of the Internet, but rather the behavior of how people use the Internet. Tim OReilly, founder of O’Reilly Media, is generally credited with coining the term Web 2.0 at the first O’Reilly Media Web 2.0 conference in 2004, “Web 2.0" is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the Internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform.” Prior to naming the Web 2.0 trend, the contents of the World Wide Web were published by only a handful of people. The naming of Web 2.0 as a trend heralds the contribution of ‘user generated content’. Web 2.0 is a catchall term that encompasses the idea of user-generated content in the fields of web design, blogs, social-networking sites, online communities and any application of the Web that includes collaborative information sharing between users. Web 2.0 currently lacks a precise definition. It is true to say, however, that although Web 2.0 need not necessarily incorporate new technologies it is generally more interactive than hitherto, tending to encourage increased content creation, collaboration, and learning, and it places considerable emphasis on the user. It is very much oriented towards social networking. See also: Blog, Folksonomy, Social network, Wiki. Now that we cleared that up....what does it mean to you? Web 2.0 is here today—and yet its vast, disruptive impact is just beginning. More than just the latest technology buzzword, it's a transformative force that's propelling companies across all industries towards a new way of doing business characterized by user participation, openness, and network effects. Are you making the most of your online opportunities? |
