Web 2.0

Web 2.0 (also known as participative (or participatory) web and social web) refers to <a href="/facts/Website/SAsjJnca">websites</a> that emphasize <a href="/facts/User-generated_content/StMc2PQH">user-generated content</a>, <a href="/facts/Usability/zuAnqu9Q">ease of use</a>, <a href="/facts/Participatory_culture/YDlmSykF">participatory culture</a>, and <a href="/facts/Interoperability/7WgqUbXU">interoperability</a> (i.e., compatibility with other products, systems, and devices) for <a href="/facts/End_user/7IM9qu7N">end users</a>.
The term was coined by <a href="/facts/Darcy_DiNucci/nYxXRX8t">Darcy DiNucci</a> in 1999 and later popularized by <a href="/facts/Tim_O%2527Reilly/q0AYKAbD">Tim O'Reilly</a> and <a href="/facts/Dale_Dougherty/hVf0zmyq">Dale Dougherty</a> at the first <a href="/facts/Web_2.0_Summit/vmMhBUqX">Web 2.0 Conference</a> in 2004. Although the term mimics the numbering of <a href="/facts/Software_versions/EP8VXAUU">software versions</a>, it does not denote a formal change in the nature of the <a href="/facts/World_Wide_Web/wvnTrWFq">World Wide Web</a>, but merely describes a general change that occurred during this period as interactive websites proliferated and came to overshadow the older, more static websites of the original Web.
A Web 2.0 website allows users to interact and collaborate through <a href="/facts/Social_media/kUIkfpIA">social media</a> dialogue as creators of <a href="/facts/User-generated_content/StMc2PQH">user-generated content</a> in a <a href="/facts/Virtual_community/D4cucP5G">virtual community</a>. This contrasts the first generation of Web 1.0-era websites where people were limited to passively viewing content. Examples of Web 2.0 features include <a href="/facts/Social_networking_site/qFIh6VT1">social networking sites</a> or <a href="/facts/Social_media/kUIkfpIA">social media</a> sites (e.g., <a href="/facts/Facebook/0IhXFR6u">Facebook</a>), <a href="/facts/Blog/bb6awu2X">blogs</a>, <a href="/facts/Wiki/uCKCEzqb">wikis</a>, <a href="/facts/Folksonomy/v9y7k16f">folksonomies</a> ("tagging" keywords on websites and links), <a href="/facts/Video_sharing/tNBgCRKy">video sharing</a> sites (e.g., <a href="/facts/YouTube/db276jst">YouTube</a>), <a href="/facts/Image_sharing/pyJS36yM">image sharing</a> sites (e.g., <a href="/facts/Flickr/BvB6ubLr">Flickr</a>), <a href="/facts/Web_service/qxrwqB3D">hosted services</a>, <a href="/facts/Web_application/BLkF3BIN">Web applications</a> ("apps"), <a href="/facts/Collaborative_consumption/LkNENkCl">collaborative consumption</a> platforms, and <a href="/facts/Mashup_(web_application_hybrid)/gn6mpfH9">mashup applications</a>.
Whether Web 2.0 is substantially different from prior Web technologies has been challenged by World Wide Web inventor <a href="/facts/Tim_Berners-Lee/JRv21mt9">Tim Berners-Lee</a>, who describes the term as <a href="/facts/Jargon/eI6scBdF">jargon</a>. His original vision of the Web was "a collaborative medium, a place where we [could] all meet and read and write". On the other hand, the term <a href="/facts/Semantic_Web/NFHo9dB7">Semantic Web</a> (sometimes referred to as Web 3.0) was coined by Berners-Lee to refer to a web of content where the meaning can be processed by machines.

Web 2.0 open-in-new

Web 2.0