Like many of you, I have evolved from a passive web user to an active participant in web communities. I network on linkedin, check products on ebay, comment on photos on Flickr, view videos on YouTube, search MySpace and Facebook, create tags for technorati, read the South Florida Public Relations Network message board, and encourage emailed comments on my blog.
With Web 2.0, the Internet has evolved from a static collection of websites that were basically a library-like repository of information and a showcase for public, private, and municipal organizations into a collection of communities where users are encouraged to participate and join. Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia which allows almost anyone to post or edit articles, defines Web 2.0 as follows:
“Web 2.0 refers to a perceived second generation of web-based communities and hosted services — such as social-networking sites, wikis, and folksonomies — which aim to facilitate creativity…, collaboration, and sharing between users. The term gained currency following the first O'Reilly Media Web 2.0 conference in 2004… Although the term suggests a new version of the World Wide Web, it does not refer to an update to any technical specifications, but to changes in the ways software developers and end-users use webs.”
Folksonomies are tags or methods of organizing and bookmarking information into meaningful categories that add value and enable groups to easily find relevant documents, graphics, photos, products, or data. Because of the proliferation of information sharing on the web, folksonomies on sites such as technorati, delic.io.us, and flickr have become increasingly popular.
Web 2.0 websites share certain characteristics. They:
• Are interactive and dynamic with user-friendly interfaces
• Enable users to interact with each other as individuals, communities,
networks, or friends
• Allow users to access web-based applications through a variety of web
browsers
• Have long tails that enable narrow niches to reach out through the entire web
• Encourage user participation because users add value
• Facilitate cooperation rather than control
I recently attended a presentation sponsored by IBM that illustrated the use of social software in a corporate community. The employee directory features employee photographs, locations, contact information, job descriptions, interests, and pertinent information that the employee wishes to disclose. Employees in far-flung locations can work together in groups by uploading and sharing information or can join non work-related special interest online communities.
There is no doubt that Web 2.0 has changed the way that we live, work, shop, entertain ourselves, obtain information, and acquire new friends. And the power of Web 2.0 is that it enables all of us to leave our footprints on the Internet.
