12 Sep Moving Up to Web 2.0

Moving Up to Web 2.0

The initial embodiment of the Internet was a one-way medium comprising static websites and search engines in which a user surfed from one website to another, often through the use of links. This Web 1.0 phase of the Internet enabled broadcast, point-to-point, and hub-and-spoke communication. Most of Web 1.0 can be characterized as a one-way street, with the user simply consuming content provided to him or her.

The current Web 2.0 phase of Internet activity is more dynamic and interactive, combining sources of content with increased functionality. This collaborative approach is not new on the Internet but has been greatly facilitated and expanded through new platforms. The creation and posting of material online is as much a part of the user’s experience as the locating and viewing of it.

Users and content providers are now on a two-way street. Web 2.0, and particularly social media, allow user participation and interaction as content can be contributed to and edited by the author and the audience – users become creators and distributors of the message. Open communication, collaboration and the sharing and re-use of web content are key features.

Key components of the Web 2.0 environment are social media and user-generated content (UGC). UGC is content created by Internet users outside of professional practices and provided to a website on which it is published by someone other than the operator of the website. UGC may be entirely original to a user, may be obtained by a user from a third-party source without any original contribution, or may be a combination of remixed, or mashed up, content.

The widespread and increasing popularity of Web 2.0 has led many businesses and other organizations to utilize UGC on their own websites and on the social media websites of others. Websites that host or enable the creation and distribution of UGC include blogs, file-sharing sites, wikis, social networking sites, aggregation sites and virtual worlds.