Web 2.0

Web 2.0 is a term referring to the second generation of the World Wide Web with a focus on people having the ability to collaborate and share information online. This information can be in various forms such as: blogs, wikis, social networking sites and web applications.

Blogs: Allows users to share thoughts and views regarding any topic on the web. This may range from their personal life to a certain subject area. For example someone may create a blog regarding design and share opinion of work in which they have viewed or upload their own work for people to see.

Wikis: Wikis are sites which allows users around the world to add to and update online content. An obvious example being Wikipedia which is an online collaborative encyclopedia whereby anyone can edit any article on the site.

Social Networking: Social Networking sites allow users to create their own personal profile in which they can share information and content, view other users information and content and communicate. Such examples are Facebook and Myspace whereby users can communicate with friends, share photos and videos and browse other friends profiles and information.

Web Applications: New applications allow users to run programs directly in a web browser. Such applications may be email services or word processors.

Web 2.0 includes web based communities of users and open sharing of information. The new technologies of web 2.0 allow user interaction the was not previously available on the web. Websites have become more dynamic and it is now easier to share information on the web through online communities and various other ways. Web 2.0 features and services are free and this has seen websites such as Facebook and Wikipedia grow at enormous rates with millions of users worldwide using the services. As websites grow, more features are added and such sites are now heavily used for advertising as adverts and information will be viewed by vast quantities of users.

Web 2.0

Design Based Web 2.0 websites:

Digital Mash: http://digitalmash.com/

Digital Mash is a design based portfolio and profile website whereby the user is uploading their personal work to share on the web. There is also a journal which is constantly updated and links to other web 2.0 sites such as the users twitter and facebook pages.