Web 2.0 represents the second generation of web services, focusing on online collaboration, user connectivity, and content sharing.
The internet as we know it began in the early 1990s, initially featuring only text and hyperlinks. Over time, websites evolved to include images, animations, advertisements, pop-ups, videos, games, and fully functional applications.
The internet is no longer just a source of information; it is now used for shopping, social interaction, managing tasks, and sharing content.
Web 2.0 refers to this shift, where the web evolved from static websites to interactive web applications.
It encompasses a variety of services like social networks, blogs, wikis, and content tagging (folksonomies), making the web more user-centric.
Blogs
A blog, or weblog, is a regularly updated website where one or more authors publish posts on specific topics, with the most recent content appearing first.
Blogs can be personal, journalistic, corporate, technological, or educational, among other types.
The modern blog originated from online diaries, with Justin Hall, a Swarthmore University student, recognized as one of the earliest bloggers, starting in 1994.
Maintaining a blog has become simple thanks to tools that allow users to easily create, edit, and moderate content without much technical knowledge.
Platforms like Blogger provide free hosting and assign a web address, while software like WordPress, a popular Content Management System (CMS), offers flexibility for hosting blogs on personal servers.
WordPress also provides a multi-user version, combining free hosting and self-hosted capabilities.
Common blog features include a blogroll (links to other blogs), previous posts, permanent links, and comment sections, creating a dynamic and interactive experience for both authors and readers.
Wikis
A wiki is a collaborative website where users can create, edit, and modify content quickly and easily.
It is an effective tool for collective writing, with Wikipedia being the most prominent example.
Folksonomies
Folksonomies refer to user-generated content tagging systems.
This collaborative method allows users to categorize content with simple tags.
Services like Gmail use similar tagging systems, where users organize and share information. Folksonomies arise when multiple users collaborate to tag and categorize the same content.
Web 2.0 Technologies
Web 2.0 is characterized by a shift in how we design and use the web, moving from a read-only environment (Web 1.0) to a read/write one where users actively contribute content.
This change is powered by new technologies, social networks, content syndication, and web-based services. Key Web 2.0 technologies include:
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS): A formal language used to define the presentation of web content.
Microformats: Tags that add semantic meaning to web content, developed by communities like Technorati to standardize data formats. Examples include:
hCalendar (for events),
hCard (for contact details),
hReview (for reviews), and more.
AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML): A technology that enables web pages to update dynamically without requiring a page reload, making them feel more like desktop applications.
Content Syndication: Feeds like RSS and Atom allow websites to distribute their content to subscribers. This is common in blogs, podcasts, and video platforms like YouTube.
Interactivity and Web Applications
Interactivity distinguishes the web from other media. Users are not passive; they interact with websites through forms, polls, emails, and shopping systems, which challenge web designers to push the boundaries of what’s possible.
Online games exemplify web interactivity. These games, played over the internet, often rely on plugins or players, allowing for platform-independent gameplay.
Benefits of Web 2.0 Applications
- Web 2.0 applications offer the same per
Web 2.0: The Evolution of the Internet into a Collaborative, Dynamic, and Interactive Web formance as desktop applications but come with added benefits such as:
- Centralized customer data stored securely in a single database.
- Information stored on secure servers, protected from theft, fire, and other hazards.
- Compatibility with various devices, including PCs, smartphones, and gaming consoles.
- Real-time collaboration between multiple users sharing the same data.
- As technology continues to advance, the internet will become more accessible, even to those with no prior experience using computers.
- The web is expanding rapidly, and ongoing technological innovations will ensure its continued growth and accessibility.
