Web 2.0

Web 2.0 is the term given to describe the second generation of the World Wide Web that is intended to enhance the ability of people to collaborate and share information online. In contrast to static HTML webpages, Web 2.0 is more dynamic, interactive, and organized to provide Web applications to users. A Web 2.0 site allows users to interact with each other through dialogue on social media as creators of user-generated content in virtual communities. This ability is in contrast to websites where users are limited to passive viewing of content that was created for them. Social networking sites, blogs, wikis, photo viewing sites, mashups, widgets and RSS feeds are all examples of Web 2.0 applications. The interactive two-way communication capabilities of Web 2.0 are especially useful in facilitating conversations and fostering relationships between an organization and its publics. As a result, public relations professionals are incorporating Web 2.0 resources into their organization's public relations strategy and planning for more targeted Web communication.

Darcy DiNucci, an information architect, first used the term Web 2.0 in 1999 in her article, “Fragmented Future.” She insisted that the first glimmering of Web 2.0 was appearing and predicted that the future of the Web would include channels for interactivity, replacing the screens full of text and graphics that were then commonplace. She also predicted that this functionality would be possible through an array of technological devices, including computer screens, television sets, and cell phones.

Although DiNucci first used the term in 1999, Web 2.0 is associated with the inventiveness of Tim O'Reilly. His firm, O'Reilly Media, featured the term in 2005 at the highly influential Web 2.0 Conference that it hosted with MediaLive. In their opening remarks, O'Reilly along with conference cofounder, John Battelle, outlined their definition of the “Web as Platform,” where software applications are built on the Web as opposed to on the desktop. They maintained that the unique advantage of this shift was the ability of customers to help build businesses.

Web 2.0 websites allow users to do more than just retrieve information. Users are able to increase what was possible in Web 1.0 through more user-interface and software and storage facilities that are available on their browser. This is known as “Network as Platform” computing. Major features of Web 2.0 include user-created websites, social networking sites, self-publishing platforms, social bookmarking and tagging. Most Web 2.0 websites have an “architecture of participation” that encourages users to add to the value of the application as they use it. This is starkly different from the traditional websites that limited visitors to viewing and whose content could only be modified by the sites’ administrator.

From the technological point of view, the building blocks of Web 2.0 are innovations introduced over recent years to increase the usability and integration of Web applications. Ajax, XML, Open API, Microformats, Flash/Flex are a few of these advances. Largely based on these building blocks, new applications have developed that allow for easy publishing. However, what really distinguishes these Web 2.0 applications is that they share the same “values.” They build on the knowledge and skills of the user, and they even enable the user to build a service so that the application gets better through collaboration.

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