What's this about Web 2.0 anyway? by Dave Collado

This is the second installment in a two-part discussion designed to introduce you to our new Web 2.0 family of templates. In part one "Introduction to Web 2.0 templates" we introduced you to Web 2.0 templates and discussed how the new look is so synonymous to the Web 2.0 feel. In the second part of this article, we'll help you arrive at a conceptual understanding of Web 2.0. You'll also learn about 4 of the most popular Web 2.0 applications as we examined the useful, the hype and the disenchanted.

So, what's it all about? Authentically, Web 2.0 is a phrase given by O'Reilly Media, referring to the professed notion of second generation of Web based societies and hosted services such as folksonomies and social-networks which aim to allow interaction and sharing between like-minded groups of users across the web. Or at least that's the theory. However, is this actually new technology? What was wrong with our old web, and how does this really work?

Technology infrastructure

Granted, many of the technology components of "Web 2.0" have existed since the early days of the Web, however today we've put it all into practice; social networking, blogging, discussion groups and the like is become a hugely powerful medium and people are just starting to grasp how effective that can be. Moreover there is one major substance, which happens to be the foundation of this concept, and that is "interaction." Interaction or networking simply means that you and I can download and upload various data in hope of enhancing our knowledge.

The online encyclopedia Wikipedia.org is a perfect example of a very large group of people in mutual cooperation who all share a common interest. Likewise the photo sharing services Flickr adopted by Yahoo in mid 2005 provides its users with an opportunity to express and share their creativity with like-minded individuals the world over. And besides these we mustn't forget our plentiful virtual social communities.

Social networking websites

Leading the virtual social experience is, of course, MySpace followed by Facebook which boasts over thirty million active members as the fastest growing social networking website thus far. Facebook is totally free you simply create a profile, give them your email, make up a password, log in and start meeting people. Facebook lets you keep in touch with your friends, schoolmates and or relatives whom you may not otherwise see everyday. Basically users log on and connect with friends by writing a few lines about what they're doing right now or later.

Likewise it's an opportunity make mutual friends with one of your friend's friends or join a group to discuss your views with those who share a similar interests. Most social networking websites feature a number of various ways for users to interact, such as chat, messaging, email, video, voice chat, file sharing, blogging, discussion groups, and this might sound a little clingy, even satellite tracking. Whether you are struggling with diabetes, trying to conceive, drowning in debt or fearful about the future? There's a community for all of these and anything else that may go bump in your head.

From a designer's perspective Facebook is the winner with its clean feel and streamline good looks, which corresponds with our Web 2.0 perception of style earlier mentioned (i.e. central layout, better allocation of text and brighter color surfaces readily attributed to Web 2.0 templates) as opposed to MySpace's inexplicably gauche feel, making Facebook more accessible to people of all ages.

Security awareness

The biggest risk here is privacy and not in the way one might think but from what I like to call "over sharing", some people simply share way more than they need to, too much information, they simply post things about themselves that they would never want to shout out from a street corner. While Facebook, unlike MySpace, does have the ability to limit the availability of your profile to only your friends and other people on your networks, it is still up to the user if he should decide to want to censor himself. Granted it isn't easy for a whole generation of show-offs to remain in secret.

Not that there's anything wrong with the whole idea of interacting and sharing in itself but, the reality is that most of these social-networking sites suffer from a lack of real community. Online communities are not communities in the real sense - they are a slightly more sinuous interpretation of the former. MySpace for example is a complete disgrace and nothing more than a narcissist reservoir where the socializing on offer is not only poor in quality but also impetuous and vain not to insinuate that Facebook is any better or anything, not by a long shot. Notwithstanding, in the real world people know that they will be held accountable for their behavior, in other words while we still have the freedom to exercise our first amendment rights we must do so with respect towards others and in the spirit of up-building our fellow neighbor and not just me, only me, always me and me, me, me, me.

Having said that, Web 2.0 is truly about bonding with the world today through a common base - the Internet - as well as offering genuine solutions. And everyday, online communities, large and small, do just that. Ladies and gentlemen, there's hope and there's reason for hope.

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About the Author

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Dave Collado is the Senior Design Consultant at www.foamers.net who provides quality website templates customization, WEB 2.0 templates, Flash templates customization, CSS templates, web design tutorials, and many other web design and web hosting services.

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