Web 2.0 is real, but it’s not something you can define by tossing out examples or buzzwords. It’s not something we can only know when we see it. Web 2.0 is a business model; it means private capture of community-created value. No one denies that the technology of sites like YouTube, for instance, is trivial. Web 2.0 is quick, honest and real. Blogging is hard for the thin skinned.

Web 2.0 is clearly all about data. The only reason ‘users add value’ is because that content is used to create a unique data set that no one could replicate. Web 2.0 is about services rather than packaged software and it is about offerings compatible with many devices (mobile phones, portable gaming consoles, different internet browsers, etc). Web 2.0 is not easy. There are hundreds (if not thousands) of approaches, hundreds of gurus and hundreds of axes to grind?

Web 2.0 is a techie joke for and by techies. If you’ve ever tried to hold a conversation with a computer programmer, you’ll realize what an oxymoron the term ‘techie joke is’. Web 2.0 is not about internet software but the services that are provided – not about the tools but how they are used (Leslie 2008). Probably one of the most famous examples of collaboration and collective intelligence is Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org) which is an online encyclopedia continually being updated by users who are based all over the world. Web 2.0 is not about mass marketing. It’s about actually understanding the masses.

Web 2.0 is about communication and facilitating community . The Web facilitated that to a degree, but presented a barrier that hindered the back-and-forth of true communication. Web 2.0 is not a panacea, and its evolution may not be dramatic in terms of form, but expect it to have far-reaching results. Consumers are rapidly adopting Web 2.0 technologies virtually without thinking. Web 2.0 is great for chat and banter with friends, networking and sharing your holiday snaps with the whole world.

Web 2.0 is essentially a consumer-to-consumer conversation, so persuading customers to talk positively about a brand is far from easy, though it potentially brings enormous rewards. Web 2.0 is no longer mere hype but a real shift, away from all content being produced by a single central designer and toward ongoing distributed web authoring, where users can create and comment on their own content. Tag-based navigation, Ajax-based interactivity and XML-based RSS feeds have made even state-of-the-art websites look outdated if they rely solely on static XHTML/CSS. Web 2.0 is all about collaborative networks by Flicker, del.icio.us , Wikipedia and YouTube . However, Web 2.0 has primarily been used in the consumer arena, as identified by the examples, but the use of such technologies has far reaching implications based on understanding how people interact with the technologies and behave online.

Web 2.0 is important, as it supports the social aspects of design processes and enriches formal design knowledge with dynamic, designer-centered experience. However, introducing such techniques into engineering organizations often proves difficult due to their complex and interconnected business processes. Web 2.0 is, in Berners-Lee’s definition, purely a blog and wiki thing. While the ingredient that makes this stuff have been lying around for years, what makes things so different is the way it’s all coming together right now. Web 2.0 is all about enhancing the user experience of the Web – taking the Web and instead of punishing people with solutions waiting for problems, actually creating a thriving community.

Web 2.0 is essentially about creating richer user experiences through providing interactive tools and services. Web sites which utilize aspects of Web 2.0 are often personalized, dynamically driven, and rich in community tools and sharing functions. Web 2.0 is an umbrella term for new collaborative Internet services characterized by user participation in developing and managing content. Key elements include Really Simple Syndication (RSS) to rapidly disseminate awareness of new information; weblogs (blogs) to describe new trends, wikis to share knowledge, and podcasts to make information available on personal media players. Web 2.0 is a term used to refer to the perceived ongoing transition of the internet experience. In lay mans terms, it changes the way the users, experience and use the internet and the effect that we have on it as a whole. Web 2.0 isn’t a trend so much as a collection of loosely strung together ideas. Underpinning it, however, is the idea that people have a strong desire to share things, whether that be it video, audio or text.

Web 2.0 is read and write web. It is real time and live connection between users and a good revolution of Web 1.0. Web 2.0 is not simply an update to the technologies of the web. It also offers fundamental changes in the way that the technologies are used. Web 2.0 is not really about tools, widgets or anything of that nature. It’s about changing a mindset. Reality is that people want to express their opinions and communicate with others in a productive way, to spread love and understanding. This is what the web should teach everyone.

Businesses today rely increasingly on the Internet for promoting themselves and selling their wares. Consumers have too, making e-commerce a fact of our everyday lives. Businesses do need to be aware that Web 2.0 and social networking currently dominate the web. Social networks aren’t just a question of ego and school ground popularity anymore?

Yahoo’s Amit Kumar added that while technology is awesome, simplicity is also crucial so engines can understand content of page. Google’s Dan Crow explained that using CSS, Ajax and Web 2.0 technologies with workarounds will accommodate for search engines in their current state of understanding, but at the same time be prepared for the future when search engines are able to better comprehend these technologies. Yahoo, with its acquisition of Flicker and Delicious and whatever else is on the horizon, wants people – and social networks – to define how it does business.