Web 2.0, what is it all about?
You’ve probably heard of the term Web 2.0 and it seems to be the latest buzzword. I think the best way to find out what Web 2.0 is all about is by visiting Wikipedia. A fine example of a Web 2.0 platform in itself. Their (user generated) description of Web 2.0 is as follows:
————————————————————————————-
“Web 2.0 is a term describing the trend in the use of World Wide Web technology and web design that aims to enhance creativity, information sharing, and, most notably, collaboration among users. These concepts have led to the development and evolution of web-based communities and hosted services, such as social-networking sites, wikis, blogs, and folksonomies.”
————————————————————————————-
Wikipedia is a great example of Web 2.0 technologies as it’s an information sharing site. Wikipedia has not uploaded the information, it’s the users who have contributed to it, open for other’s to add to it and even improve what has been uploaded earlier. Other famous Web 2.0 applications we’re all using on an almost daily basis are Tripadvisor, E-Bay, FlickR and Youtube.
See below an excellent YouTube video made by Michael Wesch explaining Web 2.0 in just under 5 minutes.
This video has been viewed by 5,438,027 people when I uploaded it to this blog. Yes, over 5 million people downloaded it within one year! That’s about 15.000 times a day(!) Even more then the famous Pamela Anderson video (I’ve just put this in to get more hits)
The other development in Web 2.0 is the enormous growth of the Social Networking sites like MySpace, Facebook and Bebo to name a few. Don’t be mistaken, this is not only for teenagers looking for parties and chatting with their friends.
Research has shown that the average age on MySpace is now 35 and 68% of MySpace users are 25 and older. Social networks like Facebook and Friendster also show an aging demographic trend. These are your customers. Customers who are happy to share experiences, photo’s and video’s and are open to experiences from others.
A good example is Tripadvisor, loved by travellers, feared by anyone running a B&B or hotel. But why?
Leave a comment