by Aster C. Lilly

Created on: April 03, 2007   Last Updated: May 13, 2007

Already, Web 2.0 is a moot point. Since the popularity of Myspace and Youtube have flourished, Web 2.0 is no longer in the theoretical realm of "paradigm shift" or "market readjustment", it is fact.

What is Web 2.0, anyway?

O'Reilly Media (oreilly.com) coined the phrase back in 2004 to describe the second generation of web-based services that emphasize sharing and community. To paraphrase Doc Searls, "The producers are now the consumers." Any site or service that promotes the production of content by the viewers of that content can be considered Web 2.0.

Criteria for Web 2.0:
1. Site allows users to provide content (writing, video, sound, photos)
2. Site broadcasts user content to other users
3. Site allows limited control as to how that content is provided
4. Site generates income from this content

For example, on Amazon.com, product reviews can be written by any person with an Amazon account and instantly uploaded for view. Good product reviews provide a first-hand consumer survey of that product.

Another example is Youtube. Youtube allows users to provide their own content. In return for providing the space and bandwidth, Youtube receives advertising revenue from the Adsense commercials that appear above the video.

You're also reading it right now: Helium.com is Web 2.0.

Although this article was not intended to soften the hearts of the truly technologically cynical, maybe we can correct that when the next platform rolls out: Web 3.0.

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