This is Armand Morin on Squidoo, all about him, where he came from and how he’s got to where hes at now, Theres even more info about his Generator software on here.

This is Armand on web 2.0

I have Found Squidoo to be very useful and versatile, especially when creating professional good looking pages quickly. I have really ignored it altogether until recently but now social bookmarking and web 2.0 have really taken off I figured it was worth jumping on the bandwagon too.

I noticed that google seems to prioritize web 2.0 stuff over alot of other important well established sites.

With RSS feeds, Social bookmarking, networking, twitter, facebook and web 2.0 combined the results that can be produced are astonishing, and the avalanche of traffic that comes with it. In many cases this goes viral round the web too.

The best part about it though is it’s all  FREE and when combined and used effectively, with a “system” It’ far better than any paid advertising campaign, the important thing too is that the traffic flow usually lasts. It doesnt tail off, i.e. when you do a press release you get an avalanche of traffic then it tails off slightly or altogether.

Ok soo thats all very well, the price for this greatness and power?…alot of hard work and networking with people and sites, while its very much worth it, it really needs to be a sustained level of commitment by you

Please take a minute and comment on my lenses or blogs, I’d love to hear from you

Follow Me On Twitter!

Add Me On Facebook

Dine With Me On de.leci.ous

Fall Over Me On Stumbleupon!

Unearth Me On Digg!

Watch Me On Youtube!

What is Web 2.0?

Web 2.0 is a term describing changing trends in the use of World Wide Web technology and web design that aims to enhance creativity, secure information sharing, collaboration and functionality of the web. Web 2.0 concepts have led to the development and evolution of web-based communities and its hosted services, such as social-networking sites, video sharing sites, wikis, blogs, and folksonomies.

Definition from Wikipedia / Oreillynet / Youtube

Web 2.0 has become quite the buzzword lately and you’ve probably already heard different explanations already.  It can become quite frustrating to get your arms around the entire concept and different interpretations of the concept. When asked, many people will just look it up on Wikipedia and then get sucked into why Tim O’Reilly is the father of Web 2.0 yada yada.  Then you get sucked into one brainstorming cloud or mind map to the next until you are completely confused.  Others will explain it best they can but only from their own POV (Point of View).

How Web 2.0 is Changing Marketing Forever

Here’s a fun test to try.

If you have different departments for IT, Development, Marketing, and Executive it is even more fun.  If not, try going to the best person you can for each of these POV’s.

Go to someone from each background and ask them “What is Web 2.0?”

Here’s what you will probably get:

IT Department

IT says : What is Web 2.0?  UGH! What’s wrong with you people!  You’re like the 100th person to ask me that today.  Go on to Wikipedia and see for yourself, I’m BUSY!

You say : Dude, lay off the Red Bull.

IT says : Sorry man, Web 2.0 has something to do with clouds or something.  I don’t know what the heck that means but it sounds like there are no servers to manage so I’m out of a job.

You say : Oh, well uh… Good luck with that.

Developer

Developer says: What is Web 2.0?  Well, that just means we gotta use AJAX.  Lots and lots of AJAX.

You say: What the heck is AJAX? The cleaning stuff?

Developer says: No!  What a n00b.  AJAX stands for Asynchronous Javascript And XML.  It’s all the rage right now.

You say : Right…. So what’s so important about Web 2.0?

Developer says : All I know is that the more I keep using AJAX in my new projects the more chances for me to get paid, go AJAX!  <begins chanting “AJAX, AJAX” repeatedly>

You say : Nevermind, goodbye.

Marketing / Design

Marketing says : What is Web 2.0?  All I know is that is needs to be shiny!

You say : Shiny? What needs to be shiny?

Marketing says: All of it!  I just got this shhhaaweeet iPhone.Can’t get enough of those shiny buttons.

You say : What does that have to do with Web 2.0?

Marketing says : EVERYTHING!  People are asking to make these clean and shiny style websites every day!  Oh, yea, and people like big shiny buttons too with not much explanation of what they are for.  It’s just gotta look simple and don’t forget…

You say : Shiny?

Marketing says : Yea!!?  How’d you know?  Man, you catch on fast!  Stay shiny!

You say : Uhh, sure.. Thanks…..

Executive

Executive says :  What is Web 2.0?  Well, it’s a fancy buzz word I like to use when bringing in clients and investors.

You say : Why do clients or investors care about Web 2.0?

Executive says : Beats me!  I heard it the other day from my IT department and Marketing.  Clients just can’t get enough of it!  I told my golf buddies the other day that we were going to buy a YouTube Channel and blast all of our product demos to the masses.  We’ll make millions!

You say : Ummm… You don’t have to actually “buy” a YouTube channel, it’s Free…

Executive says : Nothing FREE in this world!  Now go do me a favor and find some blogs to put on our site so I can impress our staff about how hip of a company we are!

You say : But.. It doesn’t work like that, you can’t just find a blog and put it on….  nevermind.

How much you want to bet that it’s just exactly this way in so many companies out there?  When point of views get involved with a topic as broad as Web 2.0, things can get a bit crazy.  Buzzwords are born.

Web 2.0 with No Point of View?

The best way to get a broad understanding of what Web 2.0 is, would be to take POV (Point of View) out of the equation entirely.  There is a video that will inspire and motivate you about what is happening as the Internet evolves.  I offer this as another way entirely of looking at what the 2.0 age of the world wide web is all about.

What do we do with Web 2.0?

Ok, so enough about what is Web 2.0 – What do we do with it once we get it?  There are many things.  Here’s ours.

We use Web 2.0 to our advantage in order to grow startups and expand small businesses.  There’s a lot more out there now than just searching for things and ending at a destination.  Now we are beginning to truely interact online putting less dependency on the search engine behemoth known as Google.

Social Networking, Social Shopping, Micro-Blogging, Video, and a whole lot more is out there with opportunities to get your business growing.  Syndicate your next marketing campaign through the use of video, podcasts, RSS Feeds, PR, and much more. You will begin to find that recency in today’s world is starting to become more popular than authority alone.  If you are interested in learning more, let us know. There’s a lot of ground to cover so we want to hear feedback from you on what you want to talk about.

It’s our goal is to provide as much information necessary in order for you to do what it takes to make a web-base business successful .  If you can’t do it, that’s another story.  We can just do it for you.  The choice is yours!

What do you do with Web 2.0?

You’ve heard about what we like to do with Web 2.0.  So please tell us what you are doing with Web 2.0?  What POV do you come from?  We’re already getting some great feedback and suggestions on what your biggest pains are in marketing online.  Next week we’ll cover the next big mystery out there… Twitter.

Let us know what you do with Web 2.0 – please comment.

Web 2.0, for those involved in the online world, implies the second generation of internet use. The first generation of the internet (Web 1.0) relied heavily on static web pages, but with time, these static pages have developed into more dynamic platforms which better engage or interact with users. This new generation of websites and functionality is referred to as Web 2.0.

 Aspects of Web 2.0

O’Reilly Media is said to have coined the phrase, Web 2.0, in 2004 with a series of conferences on the developing websites that emphasize sharing and communication between users. The phrase stuck and is often used as a buzz word among the online marketing community.

 According to Tim O’Reilly, it is easiest to define Web 2.0 by offering examples of companies and websites already embodying the critical aspects. O’Reilly has four levels of compatibility with this new generation of internet.

 Level 3 applications can exist only on the internet. These are the best examples of Web 2.0 and gain in effectiveness with increasing numbers of users. He offered the examples of ebay.com, craigslist.com, Wikipedia.org, and Adsense. 

 Level 2 applications have serious advantages to operating online, but could function adequately offline. Flickr.com is a prime example of this level.

 Level 1 applications are available both offline and online, but have additional features available by appearing online. iTunes and Google Docs and Spreadsheets are examples.

 Level 0 applications can function just as well completely offline. Mapquest and Google Maps would be included in this category.

 Of course there are infinite more examples of all levels of compatibility with Web 2.0. With new websites emerging daily, there are certain features that increase the communication aspect of each. Items that seem to contribute to the overall 2.0-ness of a website include a “networking as a platform” component which allows users to access applications through a browser, users contributing to and owning content on the website, and an interactive, rich interface.

 Implications of Web 2.0

With Web 2.0 symbolizing the future of the internet, it seems logical that successful websites should consider integrating many of these same features. While it may not make sense to have users edit articles in the way a wiki does on a personal website, allowing comments or rating systems can make a difference in user interactivity.

 With the phenomenal success of many of the leaders of Web 2.0, internet users are beginning to anticipate and even expect certain functionality on all websites. Static pages with few or no updates are a thing of the past. Successful websites of today are headed an entirely new direction.

 Critics of Web 2.0

There are some critics of Web 2.0. These individuals claim the term is nothing more than a buzz word created to remove the stigma of the dot.com bust. Others feel websites use the term too loosely to have any real value, much like the old term “synergy.” Regardless of the critiques of the term or usage, the concept of a changed internet is not heavily debated. It is easy to see the direction the internet is taking, and prudent webmasters are beginning to follow the trend.

Web 2.0 technology is changing the future of the web design industry. The technology allows the owner of the web site to change the content himself.

Designz23 Web Design

I was recently asked to find out information on web 2.0.  Here’s what i found out about web 2.0 in a nutshell.

With our ever changing and demanding lives, people have developed a need  to communicate with each other to find information quickly. one thing we can use is the internet. now with our lives the way they are the internet as we know it isn’t keeping up with what people are wanting now a days. So we need something that will help us browse for what we are looking for faster, and with more ease, effectiveness, and way less frustration. So we use things like Google, I-tunes, yahoo, e-Bay, overstock, etc., to find what we are looking for faster. ”Web 2.0″ is not just a metaphor anymore its becoming a real standard for someone who need information quickly. “Web 2.0″ an upgraded version in a since compared to the regular internet. Hints the name “web 2.0″.  As a people of course we will eventually find a need to make ”web 2.0″ better so I’m sure in the future we will have ”web 3.0″.  The statistics of using web 2.0 criteria on your website will essentially generate you or your website more hits and essentially generate more money.

where I was able to find my information.

http://webdesignfromscratch.com/future-social-web-experience.cfm

http://www.marketingcharts.com/direct/web-20-experience-on-93-of-marketers-to-do-lists-for-2008-3385/adobe-scene7-web-20-experience-measure-effectivenessjpg/

Ah ha! I am back, If you have read my first you will know why i gave such an expression. I am back to write something after around 3 months .

Web 2.0 has become a word of next generation web.,  Its popularly known as 2 O (web two oh in an american way). Let me put it in that way. After Web 2.0, I have seen many contexts that ends with ”2.0″ are seemed to be portrayed as a next generation X. Some of Famous 2Os are tech2.0 which is a network 18 venture ( group in TV 18), business 2.0.

Readers may be eager to know what a web 2.0 is. This can be put in a simple way that a web by the people, to the people. It s a web democracy. Best examples are youtube.com, wikipedia and much more.. Its where a web will be managed by the users, a user driven web sites.

The owner of this famous terminology is Tim O’Reilly. Amidst of a lot of controversies on web 2.0, it has been widely accepted as a global term on next generation web.

When i searched to find what web 2.0 means, i found from a lot of materials from term owner and other reliable resources that it means the change in the behaviour of web usage. Once upon a time websites were designed, developed and managed just by site owners, now end users have been given powers to manage the web.

I was a bit confused when i saw web 2.0 designs ?? what are they ?? glossy designs, simple and bigger text.. I was not sure that what designs does with web 2.0.. However web companies has paved a way to web 2.0 designs too. Change in the way, in which websites designed .

I have some useful material readers to clarify what i ve discussed in this post

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

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0

Other important examples of web 2.0 are
blogs
forums
RSS

Last week, all eyes were on San Francisco. Up north in Sonoma, the NewComm Forum debated how to incorporate social media technologies with communications (Step 1: Add socialTNT to RSS reader). Down in the city, the tech community rallied around the Web 2.0 Expo. But two years after Tim O’Reilly defined the emerging technologies, many are still left scratching their heads and wondering what the eff Web 2.0 is.

In 2006, Tim O’Reilly, founder of top tech publishing company O’Reilly Media, gave his compact definition of Web 2.0:

“Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform. Chief among those rules is this: Build applications that harness network effects to get better the more people use them. (This is what I’ve elsewhere called “harnessing collective intelligence.”)

Now let’s compare that to what top Bloggers Dan Farber (CNET News.com), Marshall Kirkpatrick (ReadWriteWeb), Mike Butcher (TechCrunch), Dean Takahashi (VentureBeat), Scott Beale (Laughing Squid), Josh Lowensohn (Webware).

For me, Web 2.0 is multifaceted:

• Platforms and tools that increase communication, collaboration and connection
• Software built around communities
• Open platform with applications that run in the cloud
• User-generated content or data creating two-way exchange

It’s also a term of reference for the phase of evolution of the Internet in which we currently reside. Marketers like it too!

Next steps (Web 3.0) [UPDATE: Check out this post from ReadWriteWeb on Web 3.0]:

• Connect disparate communities with data portability and openID
• Platforms and tools that help sort data so users can find what they want and interface with it where and how they want it
• Build infrastructure to allow full integration of Web 2.0 aspects with traditional networks

How do you define Web 2.0? Where do you see the Internet headed in the next 5 to 10 years? Let us know in the comments.

:: :: :: :: ::

No time to watch the video at work? Get socialTNT videos free from iTunes and watch it on the go!

Also, don’t miss a post: Drop socialTNT into your RSS reader [what’s that?]. Better yet, subscribe to socialTNT by email!

It’s a hypothetical question because Web3.0 isn’t here yet (although some would say it may manifest itself in personalisation). But let’s explore the scenario:

I’m doing a research project on Indonesia, where the internet penetration is very low (something like 9%) and many web activities are restricted to the old “Web1.5″ usage of just a static website with none of the “social” elements that are typical of Web2.0.

One question asked in class was something like “Do you think Indonesia would go straight from Web1.0 to Web3.0 by the time their infrastructure catches up?” with the illustration of starting with Friendster and moving to Facebook, bypassing MySpace completely.

My answer is: probably not. I think Web2.0 is not a “technology” per se in the way we commonly refer to it, but a way of using technology. My analogy is take cars as the parallel to Web2.0. Different brands of cars all fall under the “cars” category. If someone moves up from a Toyota to a BMW (ie Friendster to Facebook), they do advance within the category, but they do stay within that subset. It’s not until one moves out of it (to say, flying), that the previous category is done with altogether.

Do you agree? Disagree? Let me know what you think. I think it’s a fascinating discussion and would love to hear from you.

Incidentally, if you happen to know data or internet patterns/trends in Indonesia, it would be great to hear from you as well.

snapshot: this discussion is about what is the meaning of web 2.0 and why it was invented? ==========================================================================

Every industry has an age. Get born, get young, get more productive and then get mature. By increasing age of any industry, it keeps lowering down the business profits too and so with designing too.

When Internet was invented and people come to know about its usability, they were just wanted to have a business presence on internet. So having a business profile online was more then enough (child born)

Later on the time came, when people started talking about having beautifully designed website. A good mixture of graphics and text started attracting people. (Stepped into teenage)

Then a time came when people desired more from their internet presence and wanted to look stand away from crowd, so they started getting attracts towards animated website and the flash was on boom. (Spending time on facial, to look cool.. He’s young now)

And finally the business aspect launched. People started taking Internet as a medium to earn profitable business results. As a medium to get their business globally without opening any physical office anywhere. (Time to get a job.. lol)

So I believe this web 2.0 concept was launched to boost or juice the business results more and more from Internet. Take it as an enhancement guideline to online business practices.

Making website and its font scalable

(Because they were loosing business from those people who were unable to read the small or sleek text pattern over a computer monitor)

Easy to use website interface

(For hassle free browsing experience to boost buying decision)

Quick & Easy availability of product information within lesser clicks

(Customers spend less time on website then in a physical store. The faster the have sufficient details, they faster they would buy)

Using AJAX to for database interaction

(Giving a feel of fast processing, because customer hates delay)

And the list is endless…

Though I agree that web 2.0 is a very vast concept and you must not rely ONLY on what I said but it’s my personal belief that boosting online business and juicing more profits from website was the basic need behind the invention of web 2.0 concept. Remember?? “Necessity is the mother of invention”

I don’t know when this child will get mature but I guess we are yet to see much more in this age of web design.

So next time designing a web 2.0 web design, I hope you won’t be thinking of designing round corners, big fonts and light colors only.

But one thing I am still unaware of, what was the need of inventing W3C standards? Increasing hassle of designers? lol….

The bursting of the dot-com bubble in the fall of 2001 marked a turning point for the web. Many people concluded that the web was overhyped, when in fact bubbles and consequent shakeouts appear to be a common feature of all technological revolutions. Shakeouts typically mark the point at which an ascendant technology is ready to take its place at center stage. The pretenders are given the bum’s rush, the real success stories show their strength, and there begins to be an understanding of what separates one from the other.

The concept of “Web 2.0″ began with a conference brainstorming session between O’Reilly and MediaLive International. Dale Dougherty, web pioneer and O’Reilly VP, noted that far from having “crashed”, the web was more important than ever, with exciting new applications and sites popping up with surprising regularity. What’s more, the companies that had survived the collapse seemed to have some things in common. Could it be that the dot-com collapse marked some kind of turning point for the web, such that a call to action such as “Web 2.0″ might make sense? We agreed that it did, and so the Web 2.0 Conference was born.

In the year and a half since, the term “Web 2.0″ has clearly taken hold, with more than 9.5 million citations in Google. But there’s still a huge amount of disagreement about just what Web 2.0 means, with some people decrying it as a meaningless marketing buzzword, and others accepting it as the new conventional wisdom.

This article is an attempt to clarify just what we mean by Web 2.0.

In our initial brainstorming, we formulated our sense of Web 2.0 by example:

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

Web 2.0 refers to a perceived second generation of web-based communities and hosted services – such as social-networking sites, wikis, and tagged content – 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. According to Tim O’Reilly of O’Reilly Media, “Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform.”
The Internet evolved organically and the pundits noticed something new was abroad and termed it “Web 2.0″. And the recognition that the net is an elemental force that you cannot control is a fundamental attitude of the businesses that are succeeding in the Web 2.0 age, of which Google is a prime example.
Definition
The phrase “Web 2.0″ hints at an improved form of the World Wide Web. Technologies such as blogs, social bookmarking, wikis, podcasts, RSS feeds (and other forms of many-to-many publishing), social software, web application programming interfaces (APIs), and online web services such as eBay and Gmail provide enhancements over read-only websites. Stephen Fry (actor, author, and broadcaster) describes Web 2.0 as
“an idea in people’s heads rather than a reality. It’s actually an idea that the reciprocity between the user and the provider is what’s emphasized. In other words, genuine interactivity if you like, simply because people can upload as well as download”.

The idea of Web 2.0 can also relate to a transition of some websites from information islands to interlinked computing platforms that function like locally-available software in the perception of the user. Web 2.0 also includes a social element where users generate and distribute content, often with freedom to share and re-use. This can result is a rise in the economic value of the web as users can do more online. Tim O’Reilly regards Web 2.0 as business embracing the web as a platform and utilising its strengths.
Characteristics
Web 2.0 websites allow the user to do more than just retrieve information. They can provide a platform, allowing users to run software applications entirely through a browser. Users can own the data on a Web 2.0 site and exercise control over that data. These sites may encourage users to add value to the application as they use it. This stands in sharp contrast to the old control model, where site owners categorise users into roles with limited degrees of freedom or functionality. Web 2.0 sites often feature a rich, user-friendly interface based on Ajax, Flex or similar rich media. The sites may also have social-networking aspects.
Technology overview
Web 2.0 websites typically include some of the following features/techniques:
• rich Internet application techniques, often Ajax-based
• semantically valid XHTML and HTML markup
• microformats extending pages with additional semantics
• folksonomies (in the form of tags or tag clouds, for example)
• Cascading Style Sheets to aid in the separation of presentation and content
• REST and/or XML- and/or JSON-based APIs
• syndication, aggregation and notification of data in RSS or Atom feeds
• mashups, merging content from different sources, client- and server-side
• weblog-publishing tools
• wiki or forum software, etc., to support user-generated content
Economics and Web 2.0
The economic implications of Web 2.0 applications and technologies such as wikis, blogs, social-networking, open-source, open-content, file-sharing, peer-production all depends on mass collaboration. Termed “Wikinomics” and would depend on the principles of openness, peering, sharing, and acting globally.
Organisations could make use of these principles and models in order to prosper with the help of Web 2.0-like applications. Companies can design and assemble products with their customers, and in some cases customers can do the majority of the value creation. In each instance the traditionally passive buyers of editorial and advertising take active, participatory roles in value creation where masses of consumers, employees, suppliers, business partners, and even competitors co-create value in the absence of direct managerial control.
Summary
In conclusion, there are a few key areas to understand and focus on, for any organisation wishing to make capital out of this new Internet world.
Ajax
The advent of Ajax applications means web-based applications can now be made to work much more like desktop ones. As you read this, a whole new generation of software is being written to take advantage of Ajax, good examples being Google Maps and all the new social network sites. This is opening up a host of opportunities to do old things in new ways. The limits are bound only by the imagination.
Democracy
The web has always been the ultimate “power to the people” medium. Web 2.0 has taken this even further by demonstrating that the new wave of online super-businesses are generated through user interaction.
We now have several examples to prove that amateurs can surpass professionals, when they have the right kind of system to channel their efforts. Wikipedia may be the most famous. And it’s free, which means people actually read it. On the web, articles you have to pay for might as well not exist. Even if you were willing to pay to read them yourself, you can’t link to them. They’re not part of the conversation.
To use this to your organisation’s advantage, ask how you can open your company, product, service, website, blog, or whatever to allow the influence of the masses. It may be through feedback to a blog from your customers that you take prompt action on. Understand that the next generation of consumers are going to expect much more say in the businesses they purchase from.
Don’t Maltreat Users
Structure your online offering to provide the easiest, most pleasant, enjoyable, experience to your visitors. If you can provide free stuff, then do it in spades. Show generosity, don’t seek immediate gratification. Aim for the happy relationship with your consumer and trust that will eventually lead to money changing hands. If you make dealing with you hard, guess what, they not going to do it. Look at the way you treat visitors to your website. How many hoops are you making them jump through? How much are you giving away to sweeten the relationship?
Never let the competition fly under you, meaning never let any other company offer a cheaper, easier solution. Another way to fly low is to give users more power. Let users do what they want. If you don’t and a competitor does, you’re in trouble.
Apple iTunes is Web 2.0ish in this sense. Finally you can buy individual songs instead of having to buy whole albums. The recording industry hated the idea and resisted it as long as possible. But it was obvious what users wanted, so Apple flew under the labels.
The most successful sites are the ones that figure out new ways to give stuff away for free. Craig list has largely destroyed the classified ad sites of the 90s, and OkCupid looks likely to do the same to the previous generation of dating sites.
Google was a pioneer in all three components of Web 2.0: their core business sounds crushingly hip when described in Web 2.0 terms, “Don’t maltreat users” is a subset of “Don’t be evil,” and of course Google set off the whole Ajax boom with Google Maps.
Web 2.0 means using the web as it was meant to be used, and Google does. That’s their secret. They’re sailing with the wind, instead of sitting becalmed praying for a business model, like the print media, or trying to tack upwind by suing their customers, like Microsoft and the record labels.
Google doesn’t try to force things to happen their way. They try to figure out what’s going to happen, and arrange to be standing there when it does. That’s the way to approach technology-and the right way to do business in the Web 2.0 era.

The starting point of my research addresses the very basic concern of defining scope. This attempt to define Web 2.0 is directed towards raising relevant questions for a study on the potential impact of web 20 on education.

The essence of Web 2.0

Web 2.0 has no static definition. It is a fashionable and versatile term used by observers to point out to the many different patterns of change taking place today on the Internet.

It is a perceived change with no hard boundaries; which explains why traditional definitions are built around the opposition of examples rather then concepts. Attempts to define Web 2.0 generally account for the move to the Internet as a platform with an increased role for users who generate, evaluate and challenge content.

The complexity and the outreach of the change that is taking place makes it difficult to settle unilaterally on a clear definition of Web 2.0. However if I were to make an attempt at capturing only what is essential I would say that

Web 2.0 refers to a set of changes in format and practices taking place in the digital sphere and directed towards unleashing the potential of collective intelligence and social interaction.

Characterizing Web 2.0 as a process

Even though the term “2.0” suggests the existence of a static “second version” of the Internet, it is much more appropriate to start thinking of Web 2.0 as dynamic object. Like any process, Web 2.0 can be modeled using appropriate tools in order to increase our appreciation of the transformation which is happening on the Internet.

Therefore a first attempt at giving a valuable definition of web 2.0 consists in avoiding to define the photographic reality of what can be found on the Internet today, but rather to identify the major forces which drive change (variables of the Web 2.0 process). This approach can help provides clues into the potential impact of web 2.0 in different social, educational, and business realms.

The process of Web 2.0 gravitates around key variables which are represented here:

The Web 2.0 ideology

Defining ‘Web 2.0′ is in fact much more meaningful when avoiding focus on to the objects involved around the concept (technology), and when looking for meaning of the concept. This means trying to identify the ideology of web 2.0, which is based on assumptions and beliefs that are central to one’s appreciation of the value of Web 2.0.

As I mentioned, web 2.0 refers to a set of changes in the digital sphere directed towards unleashing the potential of collective intelligence and social interaction. Regardless of what is effectively evolving in the digital sphere, the changes implied by ‘web 2.0′ rely on a postulation, which is the belief in collective intelligence.

The belief in collective intelligence and the way it relates to Web 2.0 require close examination, as they are two central questions on which depend our appreciation of the value of web 2.0.

More specifically, the question of whether we can value web 2.0 for educational purposes primarily relies on the credit we give to the underlying assumption of web 2.0 that collective intelligence outvalues individual expertise. Secondly, it relies on whether we believe Web 2.0 is a satisfactory mechanism for insuring the fulfilment of collective intelligence.

What is collective intelligence ?

According to James Surowiecki’s theory of the wisdom of crowds, under the right circumstances groups can be far more intelligent in making the right choices then individual experts. This idea echoes the social constructivist theory which states that interaction between individuals is key to intelligence. Surowiecki defines a set of conditions which make the prophecy of collective intelligence more likely to happen, and also gives a series of factors which are likely to cause failure of collective intelligence.

The main flaw is information cascades, which occur when people lose their independence of thought through social interaction and rely blindly on what the majority of people think, culminating in a aggregated behavior which is unwise.

Therefore the key variable behind insuring that collective intelligence fulfils is the provision of an environment in which interactions do not deprive individuals from independence. Surowiecki suggests that there are two ways of insuring a secure environment for independent thinkers: by keeping ties loose, as loose social ties minimize the influence of others on you, and by diversifying sources of information, and therefore giving incentive for critical judgement.

Is it a relevant model?

This model seems logical and meaningful in the terms in which it is formulated, and it appears to encompass various real-life observations of either success or failure in group judgement. I would think that questions should be raised around the notion “independent thinkers” applied to real-life. If independent thinkers are absolutes then there is no doubt that collective intelligence works as a conceptual system, however there is little hope that a group composed of “independent thinkers” will materialize in the real world for collective intelligence to become a given predictable phenomenon.

The uncertainty in the fulfilment of collective intelligence lies in that space between the ideal of independent thinkers and real-world people who have very diverse and unstable levels of independence of thought, depending on unpredictable factors like circumstance or initial education.

However faced with this complexity of real-life as regards independence of thought, it seems valuable to define the characteristics of an environment which promotes this independence. In this, an environment in which individuals relate with loose ties and have access to diverse sources of information is more likely to witness collective intelligence as it push individuals towards more independence of opinion and thought.

Does Web 2.0 provide an environment which enables the wisdom of crowds?

When looking at specific web 2.0 technologies, it seems like most fail to fulfil the requisites of the wisdom of crowds as defined by Surowiecki. However, it is a mistake to consider Web 2.0 as an aggregation of specific technologies. Technologies taken separately add little meaning to our appreciation of the environment provided to users by web 2.0. In fact, the complementarity and diversity of web 2.0 technologies concretizes in users relying simultaneously on various technologies to do different tasks. This means that, from a user standpoint, the environment of Web 2.0 materializes at the cross of these technologies.

Again, it is more important to rely on what is essential to web 2.0, or what is common to different web 2.0 technologies, in order to conceptualise this environment. Web 2.0 is an environment with an immense diversity in sources of information, and in which the mediation of technology seems to insure a certain degree of ‘looseness’ in ties which relate individuals within a group.

The relatively low barriers to expression on the digital sphere insure that information sources remain diverse, and I will assume that the impersonality of the technological interface (i.e. the computer screen) keeps users safe from an predominant intellectual influence of certain members of a group. (however this thought is to contrast with work on persuasive technologies). These two characteristics of the Web 2.0 environment are also those which defined the secure environment for independent thinkers.

Therefore the Web 2.0 environment, located at the cross of web 2.0 technologies, is close to the requirements of an environment in which independent thinkers thrive and collective intelligence is likely to fulfil.

Motivated by my supervisor’s, prof. Paul Johannesson (SYSLAB), uploading this video about Web 2.0 on the lab’s homepage, I spent some time browsing youtube for some interesting videos related to it. It is a term that is quite often misused constituting it one of the hottest buzzwords of our days . Obviously, there several videos available, but here’s what i came up with:

Tim O’Reilly on What is Web 2.0

The Machine is Us/ing Us by Dr. Michael Wesch

Web 2.0 Deutschland – Danke schoen Open Directory Web 2.0 in Europe blog und Europeische social network – Europeische Web 2.0.

Web 2.0 Deuschland:

• Chance Web 2.0 – Der Fachkongress fand im September 2006 in Köln statt und bot eine Plattform zum Wissens- und Meinungsaustausch zu den Chancen und Risiken des Web2.0. Mit Referentenliste, Blog und einer Bildergalerie.
• Innovationsprogramm Web 2.0 – Programm aus Baden-Württemberg, was die wirtschaftlichen, technischen und sozialen Chancen und Risiken ausloten soll. Die Arbeitskreise betrachten insbesondere Aspekte des Wissensmanagements, Marketings sowie PR und analysieren und bewerten Geschäftsmodelle. Ein Web2.0-Wettbewerb sowie eine Veranstaltungsreihe begleiten das Projekt.
• Social Software und so – Olaf Nitz schreibt in seinem Weblog über den Einsatz von Social Software in der Unternehmenskommunikation. Insbesondere geht es um Blogs, Wikis sowie Aspekte des User Generated Contents.
• Social Web World – Kongress Media GmbH – Das Unternehmen veranstaltet Workshops, Fachkongresse und andere Events, auf denen Aspekte des Mitmach-Webs aus Unternehmensperspektive diskutiert und vertieft werden.
• Socialweb Guide – In dem Portal werden Web2.0 Anwendungen gesammelt und bewertet.
• Der Web 2.0 Report – Die Analyse des Phänomens Web 2.0 aus User-, Technik- und Businessperspektive richtet sich an Entscheider sowie Strategen und kann kostenpflichtig bestellt werden.
• Web 2.0 Sammelalbum – Enthält eine Zusammenfassung von Web 2.0 Anwendungen, wozu neben Bookmarksammlungen und News-Communities auch Video-Plattformen gehören. Die vorgestellten Anwendungen können zudem bewertet und kommentiert werden.
• Web 2.0: Web Competence und Web Responsibility – In einer virtuellen Runde wurden Medienfachleute und Web2.0-Unternehmer nach den Chancen und Risiken sowie der Bedeutung des Mitmach-Webs befragt.
• Web Business 2.0 – Web Business 2.0 ist ein Weblog von active value über Internet-Technologie, Business Kommunikation und Web 2.0-Themen.
• Zweinull.cc – Betrachtet die nationale und internationale Entwicklung des Web 2.0 aus Marketing- und Entwicklerperspektive.

RSS info:

• Alesti RSS Leser – Freier Web 2.0 RSS-Feed-Leser. Es werden alle vorhandenen Feed-Formate wie RSS und Atom unterstützt.
• Alnera RSS Software – Anbieter von RSS Software zum Lesen und Erstellen von Newsfeeds.
• Bloggerei.de – Viele interessante Blog Beiträge via RSS Feed im Blogverzeichnis.
• Dr.Web Weblog – Dr.Web befasst sich mit den unterschiedlichsten Themen im RSS Bereich.
• Feedbar – Informationen zum Sharewareprodukt Feedbar, einer Toolbar mit einer interaktiven Laufschrift.
• FeedCMS – Frei verfügbares Content-Management-System zur Erstellung und Verwaltung von Newsfeeds.
• Feed2mail.org – Script für eine Mailingliste mit dem Inhalt eines RSS-Feeds.
• Feed-Maker – Erstellt ein konfigurierbares JavaScript von einem RSS-Feed.
• Feed-Reader.net – Ermöglicht RSS-Feeds online zu lesen. Bietet darüberhinaus ein kleines Verzeichnis von RSS-Feeds sowie eine Liste mit häufig gestellten Fragen.
• Häufig gestellte Fragen zum Thema RSS – Beantwortet grundlegende Fragen, demonstriert das Format anhand einer Beispieldatei und erläutert die Entstehungsgeschichte.
• Hungry For Feeds – Einfacher und werbefinanzierter RSS-Reader für Windows.
• It-reader.de – Frei verfügbarer RSS Newsreader zum Download.
• IzyNews – Bietet einen Dienst an, um Nachrichten in einer Mail zu empfangen. Schwerpunkte sind Nachrichten, Aktuelles sowie Immobilien- und Stellenangebote.
• Kleines Format ganz groß – Bietet eine Übersicht über die Entwicklungsgeschichte und erläutert anhand von Beispielen das Datenformat und die verschiedenen Anwendungsmöglichkeiten.
• NewsBee – Vorstellung der Produktversionen vom RSS-Reader NewsBee für Windows. Downloadmöglichkeit vorhanden.
• NewsNow – Online Newsreader für RSS Feeds.
• news.seekxl.de – Kategorisierte Online News im RSS Format.
• RSS Blogger – Das Blog von Siegfried Hirsch beschäftigt sich mit Nutzen und Anwendung der Content Syndication mit Hilfe von WebFeeds und den Formaten RSS, RDF und Atom.
• RSS kurzgefasst – Gibt eine Übersicht zu Entstehung und Nutzung des Datenformats und erläutert den Aufbau von RSS-Dateien anhand von Beispielen.
• RSScrawler – Shareware-Programm, welches beliebige RSS-Feeds im Stil eines Newstickers auf dem Windows-Desktop anzeigt.
• RSS-Forum – Diskussionen und Informationen zu neuen Feeds, zur Entwicklung von RSS sowie zu Software.
• RSS-guck – Downloadseite des freien Readers RSS-guck.
• RSS-Monitor – RSS-Feeds online lesen und verwalten.
• rssNEWS.de – Erstellt einen Newsticker mit den selbst angegebenen RSS-Feeds für die eigene Homepage.
• RSS-Newsfeed – Bietet eine kurze Einführung zum Thema sowie zahlreiche Links zu Seiten mit derartigen Feeds sowie zu Anbietern von Readern.
• Rss2pdf.org – Service zur Erstellung von PDF Dokumenten aus RSS Feeds, um diese ohne RSS-Reader zu lesen.
• RSS-Readers – Weblog zu RSS Feeds und Aggregatoren.
• RSS-Scout.de – Auflistung von Anbietern zu RSS Reader, Tools, Quellen und die größte deutsche Auswahl an RSS Feeds.
• Schockwellenreiter: Was ist RSS? – Bietet einen Überblick über das Dateiformat und gibt Hinweise für Entwickler.
• Scouty – Ein online Feedreader und 24h Nachrichtenportal, welches tagesaktuelle Nachrichten sammelt und auf einen Blick darstellt.
• Surfen ist out – Diskutiert die Möglichkeiten und Perspektiven der Nutzung und führt das benötigte Rüstzeug auf.
• XML-Feed.de – Plattform für Content-Services sowie Tipps, Tricks und eine Community.

Ajax:

• AJAX Community – Forum für Asynchronous JavaScripting and XML.
• AJAX in Action – Die Fachkonferenz widmet sich in Workshops und Vorträgen dem Thema AJAX auf Client- und Server-Seite. Begleitet wird das Forum von einer kleinen Hausmesse. Mit Programminfos, Profilen von den Referenten sowie einer Bildergalerie.
• Ajax Info – Das Weblog stellt aktuelle AJAX-Anwendungen vor und enthält diverse Tutorials.
• AjaxTalk.de – Forum-Community zum Thema AJAX – „Asynchronous JavaScripting and XML“.
• Praxiswissen AJAX – Die Website zum gleichnamigen Buch von Denny Carl mit einem Probekapitel, aktuellen Meldungen sowie Quelltexte zum Download.

Web 2.0 en Francais – Merci Open Directory Web 2.0 in Europe blog. et European social network.

Topics:<strong>Web 2.0, </strong>

• AccessOWeb le Blog – Interview, tests, billets rédigés à plusieurs mains autour de l’utilisation des services 2.0.
• Alterclickr – Marc Thouvenir présente son appproche personnelle du web 2.0 et de l’évolution de l’internet.
• Esclavage 2.0 : Eux, nous et moi – Karl Dubost compare le web 2.0 à une nouvelle forme d’esclavage, analyse critique de l’utilisation des données personnelles sur certains sites.
• Glossaire des termes 2.0 – Ajax, Mash-up, Wiki et bien d’autres. De nouveaux mots apparaissent avec le web 2.0, en voici les principales définitions enrichies d’exemples.
• Le groupe de travail Web2.0 francophone – Réseau de blogues francophones attentifs à la renaissance du web. Les membres du groupes ont pour but de diffuser les nouveautés, bonnes pratiques et initiatives innovantes, collaboratives, ouvertes qui soutendent ce phénomène connu sous le nom de web2.0.
• 2803, le blog – Blog qui traite avant tout de l’évolution de l’internet avec en particulier le phénomène du web 2.0, avec des informations sur les nouveaux services ainsi qu’une approche business de ces services 2.0.
• Techcrunch – Traduction en français du célèbre blog américain sur l’actualité du Web 2.0. Le traducteur y ajoute également quelques news spécifiquement françaises.
• La Voix du Savoir – L’objectif de la Voix du Savoir est de vocaliser les articles de l’encyclopédie Wikipedia en format podcast.
• Le web 2.0, c’est pas du buzz – Blog qui tend à prouver cette affirmation.
• Le Web 2.0 en mouvement – Ce blog fournit des explications en français et regroupe les dernières applications de ce concept. De digg, au blog, en passant par del.icio.us ou encore meebo. Cette technologie offre un web, construit tel une communauté d’utilisateurs, en interaction.
• Web 2.0 francophone – Présentation du web 2.0 francophone, à travers les sociétés, les blogs, wikis et sites qui le composent et qui en parlent.
• Web 2 You – Actualité du web 2.0, description et critique des nouveaux sites et services, tutoriaux sur les fonctionnalités du web 2.0.
• Webdeux – Jean-François Ruiz découvre, teste et décortique les usages des nouveaux outils 2.0
• Wiki francophone du web .2.0 – Le but de ce wiki est de suivre l’évolution du web 2.0 par la communauté francophone via un répertoire des services.
• Wikipédia : Web 2.0 – Présentation, origine du terme, explications sur les technologies et liens.
• AgoraVox : Fragilité économique de Web 2.0 – Un article de Francis Pisani résume les principales prises de positions lors de la récente conférence de l’Expo Web 2.0 à San Francisco. (May 7, 2007)
• Web 2.0 : risques et perspectives – Eric van der Vlist fait le point sur les évolutions du Web 2.0, ses risques et ses perspectives et précise la définition du terme. (December, 2006)
• Mashups, applications Web composites très Web 2.0 – Cet article du JDN Solutions présente les mashups, mutualisation des contenus en s’appuyant sur des services déjà existants. (June 28, 2006)
• Temesis : La vraie rupture 2.0 – Un article d’Elie Sloïm pour qui le passage au Web 2.0 a été rendu possible par l’apparition des CMS (systèmes de gestion de contenus). (June 9, 2006)
• Folksonomies, les usagers indexent le web – Olivier Le Deuff, dans cet article du Bulletin des bibliothèques de France (BBF) fait le point sur le principe et les usages des folksonomies (indexation sociale) et de leur système de “tag” : définition, historique et débats en cours. (2006)
• Web 2.0 : la révolution par les usages – Un article de Frédéric Cavazza destiné au grand public explique ce qu’est le Web 2.0. (December 19, 2005)
• Web 2.0 : mythes et réalités – Le Web 2.0 représente une avancée dans l’utilisation des technologies sur le Web.

Ajax – Francais

• Ajax – Club d’entraide des développeurs francophones – Rubrique Ajax du club d’entraide des développeurs francophones : tutoriels, cours, FAQ, livres et forum Ajax.
• Ajax : premiers pas – Article présentant Ajax et proposant deux exemples concrets pour débuter.
• Ajax – une autocomplétion pas à pas – Découverte de ce qu’est AJAX à travers un tutoriel permettant de créer une interface d’aide à la saisie.
• Ajax et XMLHttpRequest – Présentation et spécifications d’Ajax, avec tutoriel permettant d’acquérir de premières notions sur cette méthode de développement.
• Mozilla – documentation Ajax – Documentation Ajax pour débutants à confirmés.
• L’objet XMLHttpRequest – Traduction en français de la spécification W3C, la base d’Ajax.
• XMLHTTPRequest – Tutoriel sur l’utilisation des requêtes serveur en javascript.
• Ajax : une nouvelle approche pour les applications web – Cette traduction française de l’article de Jesse James Garrett, à l’origine du terme Ajax, présente cette approche du web et la compare à l’approche traditionelle. (February 18, 2005)

Topics: web 2.0, ajax web 2.0, application web 2.0, applications web 2.0, best web 2.0, blog web 2.0, cms web 2.0, definition web 2.0, le web 2.0, logo web 2.0, logos web 2.0, marketing web 2.0, microsoft web 2.0, mobile web 2.0, net web 2.0, o reilly web 2.0, services web 2.0, sites web 2.0, technologies web 2.0, the web 2.0, tutorial web 2.0, web 2.0 blogs, web 2.0 business, web 2.0 conference, web 2.0 design, web 2.0 framework

Ajax, or AJAX, is a web development technique used for creating interactive web applications. The intent is to make web pages feel more responsive by exchanging small amounts of data with the server behind the scenes, so that the entire web page does not have to be reloaded each time the user requests a change. This is intended to increase the web page’s interactivity, speed, functionality, and usability.

Always according to Wikipedia, Ajax is asynchronous in that XML data loading does not interfere with normal HTML and JavaScript page loading. JavaScript is the programming language in which Ajax function calls are made. Data retrieved using the technique is commonly formatted using XML, as reflected in the naming of the XMLHttpRequest object from which Ajax is derived.

Ajax is a cross-platform technique usable on many different operating systems, computer architectures, and Web browsers as it is based on open standards such as JavaScript and XML, together with open source implementations of other required technologies.

Read the full story on the Web 2.0 in Europe blog. Get in touch with other Web 2.0 users on the European social network: social media in Europe.

Topics:Web 2.0,

Not really a news, but a way to catch up with what we missed so far (quite a lot

European Union supported http://www.startup2.eu/ a competition for Web 2.0 projects in Europe. These were the 15 finalists:

Panoramio.com: Photo-sharing of geolocated photos. Panoramio offers 2 Gb of free storage for photos. The site has 330.000 registered users and 1,1 million geolocated photos.11870.com: “a real-life delicious” where you can remember and share with your friends all kind of places (from business to sculptures) around the world using comments, tags, photos and videos. Launched in feb 07, reached #1 in technorati.

Trivop: Trivop is the first videoguide for the hotel industry. it’s a mashup with video, map and comments from users (through tripadvisor). We are convinc that video give travellers the transperncy they need before booking as today just a few photos is not sufficient enough. We want to become the youtube of the hotel industry.

Tupalo: Tupalo is a social mapping network for local and independent culture, allowing members of elusive niche cultures to add, rate, review, search and tag their favorite local businesses in major cities around the world via PC or Mobile devices.

Personalised Information Environment: A new internet application developed by a hungarian team can virtually learn what kind of tv shows and movies do the users like, and make recommendations for the following days accordingly. Musorajanlo.hu applies the latest technologies: machine-learning and data-mining, all executed on a grid.

hipoqih: hipoqih.com is a system composed by a Web and plugin for mobile devices that allows to record alerts and URLs associated to any geopoint in the planet. These alerts can be seen automatically in terminals with the plugin when approaching that geopoint, so that the information arrives when you get to the place that interests you.

nvivo.es: Gig based social network. Its main objective is that you never loose that gig again. Follow your favourite bands and coolest venues of your city, met other fans and interact adding comments, tags, joining and attending gigs and get or ask for all the gig info you need. With Musicbrainz, last.fm, Google Maps and 11870.com mashups. Live music fans never got that easy.

soziety: soZiety is a language-learning social network based on Skype. soZiety is a great, dead simple method people can use to have fun learning a language while meeting new people and making some bucks.

Properazzi – the property search engine: Properazzi is a crawler-based web 2.0 property search engine for all of Europe. We launched in March 2007, and currently list 1.8 million sale and rental properties in 45 European countries, in all European languages and currencies. We’re backed by Mangrove Capital Partners (Skype, Quintura, Nimbuzz). We’ve got a highly international team and are based in Barcelona, Spain.

Menéame: Meneame is the leading Digg-like website in Spanish. It helps anybody promote news from any source by creating new pages according to users’s votes. It was launched in 2004 from Mallorca.

SlideBurner: SlideBurner allows you to share and discover easily slideshows/presentations (PowerPoint or OpenOffice files). Upload your files and they can quickly be viewed online in any web browser on any platform. You have full control on the security of your slideshows; you can select precisely the person who can access your data. You can also create groups around your fields of interest. Moreover, the site is multilingual; for the moment it is available in French and English.

Sclipo: Sclipo is a Social Skills-Network based upon user-generated videos: Users can share and promote their skills through video and connect with other users based upon skills they care about. Sclipo is a platform for any kind of skills, such as cooking, well-being, technology or sports. All content is 100% user-generated and evaluated. SCLIPO stands for: Skills + CLIP + yO (=I)

Anywr.com: Anywr is a web and mobile system that offers simple, yet powerful services for managing contacts, calendars, events and communications virtually from anywhere: using browsers, mobile devices or any other of the over 750 million compatible devices available today.

5min: 5min is a place to find short video solutions for every practical question, and is also a place for people who want to share their knowledge. 5min’s vision is simple: any solution can be visually explained in 5 minutes. Users of the 5min platform will benefit from a visual illustration of any solution through a Smart Player. Unlike all of the video sites on the net, 5min created a video player that is adjusted specifically to the instruction field.

QuestionForm: questionform is a web application for creating, publishing and analysing online surveys and forms.

Read more Web 2.0 stories here and on the Web 2.0 in Europe blog. Get in touch with other Web 2.0 users on the European social network: social media in Europe.

Topics: Web 2.0, web 2.0, ajax web 2.0, asp net 2.0 web config, asp net 2.0 web hosting, asp net 2.0 web parts, asp net 2.0 web service, asp net 2.0 web services, best web 2.0, mobile web 2.0, net 2.0 web config, net 2.0 web hosting, net 2.0 web service, net 2.0 web services, the web 2.0, web 2.0 application, web 2.0 applications, web 2.0 blog, web 2.0 business, web 2.0 buttons, web 2.0 companies, web 2.0 conference, web 2.0 definition, web 2.0 design, web 2.0 development, web 2.0 fonts, web 2.0 framework, web 2.0 generator, web 2.0 icon, web 2.0 icons, web 2.0 logo, web 2.0 logos, web 2.0 marketing, web 2.0 pdf, web 2.0 services, web 2.0 sites, web 2.0 software, web 2.0 technologies, web 2.0 technology, web 2.0 template, web 2.0 templates, web 2.0 tools, web 2.0 tutorial, web 2.0 website, web 2.0 websites, web 2.0 wiki, web config 2.0, what is web 2.0, asp net 2.0 web part, best of web 2.0, define web 2.0, le web 2.0, my web 2.0, o reilly web 2.0, oreilly web 2.0, que es web 2.0, tim o reilly web 2.0, verizon mobile web 2.0, was ist web 2.0