How is Web 2.0 different from Web 1.0?
Web 1.0, roughly defined, refers to the state of the World Wide Web between 1994 and 2004, before the Web 2.0 craze. Websites were mainly strictly one-way published media, static pages instead of dynamically user-generated content. In Web 1.0, there was a clear distinction between Web readers and Web writers, their roles generally disjoint.
However, such distinctions and inability to create ones own content gradually disappeared with the evolution of Web 2.0. On Web 2.0, a web user my simultaneously be a reader and a writer, seeing the development of user-created content. Web 2.0 aims to facilitate creativity, information sharing, and collaboration among users. These three concepts have led to development of web-based communities, social networking sites, wikis and blogs, such as MySpace, Facebook, Blogger and YouTube. Users have been able to increasingly contribute to the web through such sites, as can be seen in the diagram above.
The top half of the diagram depicts Web 1.0, where there is a clear distinction between the creator of the content ("Webmaster") and its users ("Internet Surfers") who had no contributing factors. After the advent of Web 2.0 however, the "Webmaster" doesn't have ultimate control anymore and other users and surfers are able to now contribute to the web. Many online users are linked with one another through the web, interacting with one another, subscribing to blogs or becoming friends with users. The diagram clearly and simply depicts how the web has changed for us and how we are now more part of it than ever.
According to Tim O'Reilly, who first made the term Web 2.0 notable: "Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the Internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform."
Andy Budd confirms this view, stating that on Web 2.0, we start to watch the Web as an application platform. It is the web as a platform that has enabled users to contribute their own content and collaborate with other users. Andy
emphasises the Web as a change of thought. "Web 2.0 isn't a thing... It's a state of mind."
It may sound weird but it helps us to understand the web's evolution. Web 2.0 is essentially still the same as Web 1.0 but it is the users and businesses that have revolutionised it into what it is today. Of course, it is faster, easier to use and has improved significantly, but it's the users that have made the Web and still make the Web through their understanding of it.
Comparing Web 1.0 with Web 2.0
Just to name a view:
Web 1.0 was about reading, Web 2.0 is about writing;
Web 1.0 was about companies, Web 2.0 is about communities;
Web 1.0 was about home pages, Web 2.0 is about blogs;
Web 1.0 was about owning, Web 2.0 is about sharing.
After writing this now, one question that interests me is, what would the Web be like today if it wasn't for Web 2.0? Would it still be controlled by the "Webmaster" and we, innocent "Internet Surfers", had nothing to say, nothing to contribute, and nothing to create? Or would it be different still?
Web 1.0, roughly defined, refers to the state of the World Wide Web between 1994 and 2004, before the Web 2.0 craze. Websites were mainly strictly one-way published media, static pages instead of dynamically user-generated content. In Web 1.0, there was a clear distinction between Web readers and Web writers, their roles generally disjoint.
However, such distinctions and inability to create ones own content gradually disappeared with the evolution of Web 2.0. On Web 2.0, a web user my simultaneously be a reader and a writer, seeing the development of user-created content. Web 2.0 aims to facilitate creativity, information sharing, and collaboration among users. These three concepts have led to development of web-based communities, social networking sites, wikis and blogs, such as MySpace, Facebook, Blogger and YouTube. Users have been able to increasingly contribute to the web through such sites, as can be seen in the diagram above.
The top half of the diagram depicts Web 1.0, where there is a clear distinction between the creator of the content ("Webmaster") and its users ("Internet Surfers") who had no contributing factors. After the advent of Web 2.0 however, the "Webmaster" doesn't have ultimate control anymore and other users and surfers are able to now contribute to the web. Many online users are linked with one another through the web, interacting with one another, subscribing to blogs or becoming friends with users. The diagram clearly and simply depicts how the web has changed for us and how we are now more part of it than ever.
According to Tim O'Reilly, who first made the term Web 2.0 notable: "Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the Internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform."
Andy Budd confirms this view, stating that on Web 2.0, we start to watch the Web as an application platform. It is the web as a platform that has enabled users to contribute their own content and collaborate with other users. Andyemphasises the Web as a change of thought. "Web 2.0 isn't a thing... It's a state of mind."
It may sound weird but it helps us to understand the web's evolution. Web 2.0 is essentially still the same as Web 1.0 but it is the users and businesses that have revolutionised it into what it is today. Of course, it is faster, easier to use and has improved significantly, but it's the users that have made the Web and still make the Web through their understanding of it.
Comparing Web 1.0 with Web 2.0
Just to name a view:
Web 1.0 was about reading, Web 2.0 is about writing;
Web 1.0 was about companies, Web 2.0 is about communities;
Web 1.0 was about home pages, Web 2.0 is about blogs;
Web 1.0 was about owning, Web 2.0 is about sharing.
After writing this now, one question that interests me is, what would the Web be like today if it wasn't for Web 2.0? Would it still be controlled by the "Webmaster" and we, innocent "Internet Surfers", had nothing to say, nothing to contribute, and nothing to create? Or would it be different still?
2 comments:
Great Blog!
The discussion of Web 2.0 converging media to enable users to become produsers is extremely interesting.
Although I am a frequent user of online communities and promote them strongly, I think it will only be a matter of time before we stop to ask howselves how far will this revolution take us? How distant can we get from reality and how subdued can real life relationships become?
/giggle...
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