Web 2.0 Defined (by me)

People talk a lot about "Web 2.0", usually either making huge pronouncements about its potential to transform the world or niggling about what the term "Web 2.0" actually means.

I'll try to do both, in 200 words or less, here.

First, the reason why the two common themes (its potential and its definition) are usually found together is because it can only be defined in terms of its potential. That is to say, the definition is meaningless outside of the context of its effects. If the definition of Web 2.0 is for example, a set of technologies, it doesn't quite explain why it matters-- Web 2.0 is significant because those technologies enable large changes in communication patterns.

Web 2.0 is *easy-to-use* web publishing, including graphics, multimedia, combined with tagging, search, links, and messaging. Easy-to-use is key here: ONLY if the software is intuitive for the typical user can a Web 2.0 application have its intended effect. And since, in my opinion, the effect is integral to the definition, only totally intuitive web applications can be considered Web 2.0.

So, when people say that Web 2.0 (or Enterprise 2.0) is nothing new because SharePoint 2003 does this already they're not quite getting it, to be blunt. It's not just the collection of technologies or functionality that matters, it's ultimately how people use them. I've used SharePoint, and while it does many of the things a Web 2.0 app is supposed to do, it doesn't do them well enough. In my organization, we have SharePoint training sessions: enough said.

Ever hear of a FlickR training session?