April 21, 2006
What is Web 2.0?
Posted by Kevin | Print This Article
The best definition I’ve found is buried in the Wikipedia entry on Web 2.0:
“A marketing term to differentiate new web businesses from those of the dot-com boom, which due to the bust now seem discredited.”
More often used, though, is the definition found in the first line of that Wikipedia entry:
“Web 2.0 generally refers to a second generation of services available on the World Wide Web that let people collaborate, and share information online.”
Which sounds familiar because that’s pretty much what people thought the first generation was supposed to do.
The primary (only?) difference is that the web applications commonly grouped together as Web 2.0 really are easier to both develop and use. So while it’s easy (and fun!) to be cynical about all the ridiculous hype, the implications of these applications for associations are real.
In short, here’s what those implications are:
Content … Is easier to produce.
Information … Is easier to find.
Connections … Are easier to make.
Events … Are easier to organize.
Groups … Are easier to form.
Filters … Are easier to avoid.
Irrelevancy … Is easier to notice.
Hierarchy … Is easier to ignore.
Loyalties … Are easier to change.
I’d add “by your members, with or without you!”
Hey David, did you get as much random burrito traffic as I did after our earlier exchange? Lots of searches for Chipotle locations … Of course, now I suppose I’ll get more …still no coupons, of course …and “Random Burrito Traffic” would be a good name for a band …
Yep, I get some random burrito traffic as well. No free food, yet, though!
Here’s a really good article on the movement, via Emily Chang.