Web 2.0….But what was Web 1.0???

Web 2.0 is a phrase that was coined around 2004. What is actually is appears to be debatable, but it seems to have emerged from the Internet after the dotcom crash of 2000. It marked a definite shift in the Internet and the way we use it. Before “Web 2.0”, though, there had to be a Web 1.0; this “first version” of the web was very basic. Website and pages and a few search engines, and not much you could do with any of it. A user could get information, maybe order something from Amazon, but there wasn’t a way for a user to add to any sort of conversation about the information or products available, or any way to interact with other users. Because of this, site managers had no way of knowing what people thought of their site, and pages did not change very often. The Internet was growing, but parts of it were static.

Web 2.0 is different from 1.0 in that the Internet is a platform off which the other programs are run. It allows for the Internet and the multiple programs and website that are available via the Internet to be used on multiple devices, which is important in a society where almost everyone has some sort of mobile device in addition to a traditional computer.  Web 2.0 is dynamic; things are always changing and there is a conversation going at all times about almost any topic a person could be interested in.  Ordinary people can create content, comment on others content, and interact within a community they are able to create using various tools of Web 2.0. This can be via social networking, blogging, Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds, all of which allows content to be shared the changes to be broadcast to those who have requested to be notified, and readers/users to submit feedback and comments, adding to whatever conversation is being had. Web 2.0 is largely based on various types of tagging systems which allow for content to be easily searched for and found. Blogs use tags to categorize posts, but social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram utilize hashtags, which allow for users to easily find who else is talking (or tweeting) about a particular subject. Web 2.0 is all of this and more, but mostly I believe it is a way for various aspects of the Web and the people who use it to be connected, and the programs themselves to be interconnected.

This interconnectedness of Web 2.0 makes it not only easy to contribute content but to share it across several programs. This can be seen in the way you can easily share a blog post, news article, YouTube video or the like to Facebook or Twitter, or post a link in a Wiki.  Gone are the days of having email something to everybody in your contacts just to see what others think. That can easily be done now by simply posting your content to its respective site and waiting on comments, or hosting a link-up on a blog site. Web 2.0 has made it easy for people to contribute to the larger conversation, which is what makes Web 2.0 a game changer for education. Conversations and intellectual discussions no longer occur solely in isolated classrooms on isolated campuses; they can now occur in cyberspace, across not only campuses but states, countries and the world, and across programs as well, allowing students to learn from each other. Web 2.0 is not clearly defined, and few people could tell you what it is. I certainly could not have written anything about it two weeks ago before being assigned to write this blog post! But I think that ambiguity is the beauty of Web 2.0, and allows for the countless possibilities for its use.