Music Online…

I decided to look into Web 2.0, as I had no idea to what it was and wanted to find out more.  I found defining Web 2.0 a difficult process as it was quite hard to understand the full concept, but the following is a basic definition to what the term is about.

Web 2.0 is a phrase invented by Tim O’Reilly and can be seen as the evolution of the Internet.  Instead of looking at it as a collection of websites, Web 2.0 is the idea of the Internet being a platform of services and applications for its user, allowing it to be more interactive and much more personal. 

The characteristics of a Web 2.0 site include:

• Website users adding and controlling information

• Users improving the website with continued use

• User-friendliness

• The use of simple technology, including RSS, CSS and simple URLs

An example of this is personal websites.  People would create such sites, either using their own knowledge of web design or pre-created layouts, to give an idea of who they are and express their own thoughts and opinions.  Now, people use blogging as an on-line journal, where social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook are frequently used to express a sense of identity.  The idea of harnessing collective intelligence can also be displayed on these social networking sites, where you have the opportunity to link to sites and articles on the Internet that are of interest to you.  Video sharing sites like YouTube also provide this service, giving you the option to share videos by either posting URLs or embedding them on personal web spaces.

Links:

What is Web 2.0
http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html

The dispute into the definition of Web 2.0:
http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2005/08/not_20.html

Example of Web 2.0 site:
http://www.freewebs.com