Web 2.0 - Making the world smaller
Now a days, we have been hearing the word "Web 2.0" frequently. I came to know this word only during my initial days of ICS 602 class. Let me jot down my knowledge about Web 2.0.
Etymology of Web 2.0
Before going to the definition of Web 2.0, I would like to write about etymology of that word. This term was invented by Tim O'Reilly and Dale Dougherty. They saw that many of today's successful companies shared a similar set of characteristics. The Web 2.0 companies shared a very different approach from the dotcom companies of 2000.
Definition of Web 2.0
There are lot of definitions for Web 2.0. But I like the below definition from Tim O’ Reilly.
"Web 2.0 is the network as platform, spanning all connected devices; Web 2.0 applications are those that make the most of the intrinsic advantages of that platform: delivering software as a continually-updated service that gets better the more people use it, consuming and remixing data from multiple sources, including individual users, while providing their own data and services in a form that allows remixing by others, creating network effects through an "architecture of participation," and going beyond the page metaphor of Web 1.0 to deliver rich user experiences." by Tim O'Reilly, “Web 2.0: Compact Definition?”
In this definition there are five key words –
1) Network as a platform:
Simplifies distribution, Easy way of maintaining code, Faster speed to market, Share data across devices, Subscription model vs. one off purchase
2) Continually updated service:
When more people tend to use, the service gets updated frequently.
3) Consuming and remixing data:
The data can be viewed by anyone in the world and they can give their comments for betterment of the data, which helps the user to change the data accordingly.
4) Architecture of participation:
Providing a service, not a product (infoware not software),Encourage user contribution (reviews, comments) , Collective intelligence (PageRank, folksonomies, popularity), Make it easy to re-use and re-mix, Customer self-service, Community and sense of ownership
5) Rich user experiences:
Easy to use, Pleasurable to use, Build social networks, Rich user interface, Functions like a traditional application
Difference between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0:
The above diagram shows the way organizations interact with customers during Web 1.0 and Web 2.0. In Web 1.0, when a transaction happens between organization and customer, the customer provides a feedback of the transaction made. This is mostly a one-way communication which has less effect on the product or on the customer satisfaction. But in Web 2.0, there are interactions happening between the customers and the organization. After those interactions, the organizations understand the customers needs and then they help them in the form of contributions. There are lot of conversations taking place between customers and organizations. Therefore more two-way communication is done in Web 2.0.
Source: http://www.labnol.org/internet/favorites/the-difference-between-web-10-and-web-20/665/
The above diagram shows the difference between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 in terms of number of users. Web 1.0 was considered mostly as read only web. It had only 250000 sites and had only 45 million global users. It was more of one way communication, wherein the published content was visible to the users and the user generated content was very less. But in Web 2.0, there are almost 80 million websites. They were called read-write web. There were both published content made by the sites and the user generated content made by common people. There were almost 25% users generating contents. There are more than a billion global users as on 2006.
Why Web 2.0 ?
Web 2.0 is the current standard for web applications. It is unavoidable. We need to live with it. It is also more User-centered. They are highly usable and users add value. This supports the concept of “The World is Flat”. When we create a blog in Muncie, we get comments and suggestions from person sitting in Australia. The person who is commenting will not be known to us before. This in turn paves the way for collaboration. Web 2.0 uses existing technologies in new and innovative ways. It totally changes the way people view the web. The current IT industries have become more matured through this, which helped them to have a healthier web economy. All these features are making the world smaller.
Advantages of Web 2.0:
•Help define a complicated set of concepts
•Eases communication
•Good for non-technical people
•Good way to promote a group of technologies
•Open data formats
•User created data
•User owns their own data
•Data used across devices
I feel that in near future with the evolution of Web 3.0, the world becomes still smaller and the proportion of users producing the actual content rather than just consuming the content will grow.