Web 2.0 is not AJAX and visual design. We typically see a site that has bright colors and fancy shadow effects and say, “Web 2.0.” That is not the case.
In a simple definition, Web 2.0 is harnessing collective intelligence through the internet. Think Myspace and Youtube. Both rely on user generated content. They have some color schemes and such which fit the design bill, but that is not what their business model is centered around.
I found a great list, which I wanted to touch on here. It should help to do two things; see what Web 2.0 is and let you use some of the aspects on your own sites.
The Essentials of Leveraging Web 2.0:
- Ease of use
- Open up your data
- Aggressively add feedback loops to everything
- Continuous release cycles (growth)
- Make users part of your software
- Turn your applications into platforms
- Don’t create social communities just to have them
These are some of the bigger aspects to Web 2.0 as diagnosed by Dion Hinchcliffe at sys-con.com. He points out that if you want to build a successful Web 2.0 community, it takes a lot of very precise effort, but the concepts will always center around the above points.
One thought: It seems that blogging encompasses all 7 of those points. Coincidence?