What is Web 2.0?

This article describes web 2.0 including the definition, what it is used for and the benefits of have a web 2.0 interface. Although there are no set “standards” for web 2.0, this article discusses what is usually standard with a web 2.0 application and interface. Web 2.0 is a term that is associated with applications on the web facilitates interoperability, interactive systemic biases, developing the World Wide Web and user-centered design. With a web 2.0 website, users are able to collaborate and interact with each other in a dialogue, like social media. In social media, users are collaborating and interacting with each other as they are consumers of content that has been user-generated in a virtual community. This is unlike websites where users are only able to view content that they have controlled and created.

Examples of web 2.0 websites include any social media network, blogs and hosted services. Other websites that are on a web 2.0 interface include video sharing sites, mashups, web applications and folksonomies. Although it was initially meant to be a new version of the World Wide Web, it ended up changing the way that end users and web developers use the web. This is because it did not refer to any specifications on a technical level.

One of the “standards” within the web 2.0 interface is systemic bias. The term is interchangeably used with systematic and means the same thing. It is the way that a system or other item, object or application is created in favor to particular outcomes. It generally refers to human systems and can lead to systematic errors in estimates or measurements. Within web 2.0 websites, this is generally used knowing that a certain population will favor the way it is created.

Interoperability is another “standard” for web 2.0. Interoperability is a term that is defined as the ability of interfaces, applications and sites to work together. It is a property that refers to diverse organizations and systems interoperating. The term takes certain factors into account, such as political, social and organizational factors that impact the performance from one system to another. Each web 2.0 website and application must be able to interact with the next.

A user-centered design is a standard of web 2.0 websites as well. User-centered design is referred to as pervasive usability. It is a philosophy of design, as well as a process, that gives extensive attention to the limitations, needs and wants of end users. This attention is given to the wants, needs and limitations throughout the entire design process. This is essential when creating a web 2.0 website since it should keep the user in mind in order to be usable.

In the end, web 2.0 increased what was possible with the Internet. The user has more to do than just retrieve information and can have more software options and storage facilities than before. Here are some additional resources that explain the concept behind web 2.0 and possible what is to come in the future. There are also some additional resources on understanding how to create a web 2.0 site and other applications.