The nature of internet has changed over the years. Web 2.0 is the journey from passive websites to highly interactive social sites.

The term Web 2.0 was coined by Tim O'Reilly to indicate the movement of internet and associated technologies from a purely passive web platform to a highly interactive and collaborative environment. Some of the components of Web 2.0 are social sites along with blogs and forums, wikis and folksonomies.

Social interactive sites like Facebook and MySpace have proved to be successful in creating worldwide communities where each member is the producer as well as the consumer of information. Within these social sites we can find innumerable forums catering to all kinds of tastes and preferences. Another feature of these Web 2.0 enabled sites is the nature of information itself which is unrestricted, uncensored and collaborative. Compare this to the previous generation of websites which were repositories of copyright data with restricted access. They were mostly click through sites lacking in interactivity. Social sites have moved away and have adopted a collaborative and open structure where users can not only access data and information but also contribute to it. The hallmark of Web 2.0 is essentially collaboration.

Web 2.0 is not restricted to the internet. It is a whole new way of doing and working. Enterprises have now realized the usefulness of forums and blogs and their ability to enhance productivity. One can see large corporations encouraging not only their employees but the entire ecosystem including suppliers, vendors, business associates, consumers and   customers to interact on their Web 2.0 enabled websites. It has given rise to a more open and collaborative work culture. Marketing campaigns have metamorphosed and have assumed new dimension and shape. Participation in better known social sites has become quite common among multinationals. Customer feedback and product improvement through these informal channels have gathered momentum. Web 2.0 has given rise to new and enhanced corporate structures. As it always happens during times of change, many corporations are still wary of adopting Web 2.0 culture. There is a fear that unrestricted communication and exchange of information may be misused by competitors. Safeguarding intellectual capital, patents and copyrights may become difficult in such an environment. The debate is still on whether Web 2.0 is appropriate for such companies.

The open source movement is another example of Web 2.0. Thousands of software programmers are collaborating from across continents to create world class software. This has given rise to a whole new paradigm. The old generation Netscape and even Internet explorer has given way to Firefox and Google.  Google is good example of true Web 2.0 enabled corporation. Compare this with Microsoft which is an inward looking, copyright conscious software giant. These two, Google on one hand representing Web 2.0 and Microsoft on the other, are pitched in a battle of survival. It is not a battle of technologies but that of mindsets. Google search engine technology is still a closely guarded secret but its overall approach is Web 2.0 in spirit and application.

Web 2.0 is more an intellectual movement rather than a technology. It is collaboration with a capital ‘C’.

By Jose L. Anton, CEO

GreenCode Technologies, Inc.

(954) 840-8068