So “blog” was the word of the year… “google” is now a verb in dictionary that means to utilize the Google search engine to make specific search queries, website-based companies are all over the media and gaining market shares in their respective markets, and tech start-ups like Facebook, or smaller ones like 39signals are showing the potential to make profit once again. This was the case a couple of years ago when the Internet was booming again after the bubble burst, but only those who where building it knew its full potential. But now that normal users are forgetting about the burst of the bubble, and that the computing learning curve has sharply decrease over the last couple of years, most users are saying hello to the Internet again, and the are finding that things have changed since they last used it. For a little while now this new term has been making headlines allover. Web2.0; used by Fortune 500 companies to make billions of dollars and by college students who are trying to make some money to get beer. It can involve hundreds of persons working together with a budget of millions, or someone with a text pad and a free web hosting service. Yet, what is this thing?

As a first post, I would like to discuss the meaning behind the over hyped term “Web 2.0″. Do you love it? Or do you hate it? Either way, it is undeniable that it’s the reason we are here. It’s also unquestionable that its connotations, from technological to cultural, have already influenced a good part of humanity. But can you really explain to someone the meaning of it? At first glance, it’s concept could be hard to grasp and understand. It’s composed of a conglomerate of ideas, techniques, principles, beliefs and methods, among other things, that could overwhelmed the most intelligent of men, yet it’s very easy to identify once you understand it. First, some history. The first use of the term Web2.0 was by O’ Reilly Media in 2004. They actually gave the term its initial definition. On October 15, 2004, the first Web2.0 conference took place, making the term popular; but that’s about it. From there on, in my opinion, this word took off and got an identity of its own. Although it still shares some of the initial ideas presented in that conference, it has undeniably developed into something else which leads us to this very post.

In simple terms, Web2.0 is a term coined to represent the new technology used by developers, users and business to satisfy other developers, users and business alike. Web 2.0’s notion started to become apparent after the failure of Web1.0. From it start, elements of the old Web were deemed unpractical, like having design and content together in HTML. To satisfy this newly formed necessity, (primarily the update, create & delete data anomalies across any language), this new notion of an innovative web was created and that is precisely the main idea behind this whole thing: a pragmatic web, full of possibilities learned from past errors. Developers make it work with new tools and techniques developed from the failures of past technologies, users simply want things to work better and easier, and businesses bring both together at the cost of a profit; everyone has a particular reason and purpose behind it, and they all 3 influenced the conception of this new Web. This might seem very simple, but I believe this to be the basic definition. All the other definitions, posts, and articles that I’ve found either describe how this was performed during specific periods of the Web2.0 revolution, mention key features & technologies employed or present a one-sided view to the idea (either from the user, developer or business side). And although it is true that certain things like CSS, AJAX, openAPI’s, microformats, folksonomy, meta-tagging, wikis’, flickr, google, torrents, P2P, and so many other things have influenced, and could be mentioned among the most important factors of Web2.0, the truth is that they are not required. In fact, I believe that nothing specific is needed, as long as its an innovation opposing the web1.0 dilemma. Why? Whenever someone invents something more useful, others will switch to it and make that the new web2.0 application to improve.

Now that you know what web2.0, or this new web, from its ideological point of view, it is time to do some reading and learning. I’ve made a summary of the articles and posts that I believe to be important in order to clearly understand this concept:

A couple of videos in a post from LifeClever.
What better than the golden jewel of Web2.0 to see what Web2.0 is.
Tim O’Reilly’s idea of web2.0.
O’Reilly’s updated idea of web2.0.
Q & A approach, and includes various definitions from different sources.
Makes a good concise approach in plain english.
Web 2.0 defined by del.icio.us blog.
Paul Graham knows what he’s talking about. Trust him.
Here, you’ll understand the business side of web 2.0.
This one makes fun of some of the lesser known things of the Web2.0.
Last, and certainly not least. Squidoo definition + more!

Hope you find this article useful; they compose, at least in the vast majority, what I think forms the Web2.0. if you have any other related links, media or just want to share your view, comment!