Chapter Two
Web 2.0
Since the Internet first became popular, most people were used to simply viewing the information they searched for online and accessing files. Sites were formed through one-way communication that gave users limited input into the sites they enjoyed the most. This version of the “old Web” was then upgraded to the two-way communication version we love today, known as Web 2.0.
Web 2.0 refers to the Web sites that get at least some of their value from the actions of users. Most of these sites are better known to us “normal” Internet users as “third-party sites.” Some of the most well-known third-party sites available are:
If you spend more than an hour on the Internet a day chances are that you are registered with one, if not more, of these sites. The goal of these sites is to have open-source software that gives users control and flexibility as well as open standards to allow new creation.
Myspace was created in 2006 and has quickly risen to be the most popular website on the Internet, with more page views, and users, than any other third-party site (maybe even any site period). The site claims that more than 100 million users are registered, as of September 2006, and has served nearly 39 billion page views in November. While Myspace has received almost as much as controversy (being considered a place for harboring child molesters, murderers and pornographers) as it has viewers, it continues to rise and expand within the Web 2.0 world. Students and users alike should be wary of the information and content they put on the site, however, because it could leak to problems, such as job loss.
YouTube was launched in 2005 and has also become one of the most popular sites on the Internet, perhaps even growing faster than Myspace itself. Its slogan of “Broadcast Yourself” has brought millions of people to do just that by sharing home movies and amateur films with whoever will watch. YouTube has its own amount of issues, however, most of them stemming from copyright infringements.
Flickr was launched in 2004 Flickr. It is more than a place to share personal photographs. It’s also a community platform that uses tags to power its organization and makes photos of specific topics easy to find. It also has slick functionality for bloggers, who can store photos on the site and display them on their blogs with a few simple clicks.
Web 2.0 is expanding right before our eyes; so fast in fact, that it may very well soon become the newer version of the “old web,” leaving room, perhaps, for Web 3.0. (Whatever that may look like).