How do you define “Web 2.0″?
I got the ideal to make an updated list of the Web 2.0 companies across Canada, but then realized there are so many definitions of what a Web 2.0 company is – so I’d like to pick your brain and see what a few of us Canucks seem to think. So what is a “Web 2.0 company” to you? What factors does the company have to have in order to qualify in your opinion? (ex. Revenue, type of product/ service)
Here are a few definitions that I’ve come across:
Wikipedia - second generation of internet based services that let people collaborate and share information online in a new way - such as social networking sites, wikis, communication tools and folksonomies.
O’Reilly - Web 2.0 is a term often applied to a perceived ongoing transition of the World Wide Web from a collection of websites to a full-fledged computing platform serving web applications to end users. Ultimately Web 2.0 services are expected to replace desktop computing applications for many purposes.
Om Malik - “collection of technologies - be it VoIP, Digital Media, XML, RSS, Google Maps… whatever … that leverage the power of always on, high speed connections and treat broadband as a platform, and not just a pipe to connect.”
Dave Winer - “Web 2.0 is a marketing concept used by venture capitalists and conference promoters to try to call another bubble into existence.â€
I’ll summarize the answers that I get so that we can see what seems to be a general consensus.
Update:
Here are a few definitions that were either sent to me or blogged about:
Doug Walker - “A Web 2.0 company provides web-based tools that capitalize on the ability of fomerly passive viewers who are now active contributors of content. Philosophically, these companies blur the lines between manufacturer and customer, advertiser and audience, writer and reader, producers and consumers, etc.”
Jerry King - “Web 2.0 is more about a way of providing services to get something done than it is about the underlying technologies (Ajax, tagging, RSS) or programming techniques (Ruby, Perl, etc.) …..So services that “get something done” is part of my mental definition of Web 2.0. The other parts of the definition would include: (a) that Web 2.0 embodies a degree of high collaboration with other users (e.g. via blogs, tagging, collaborative filtering, etc), and (b) Web 2.0 implies a connection (broadband) so ‘persistent’ that users take the Web for granted—at least until the server farm crashes”
Tamera Kremer - “A Web 2.0 company provides unique and intuitive web-based services designed to enable and empower consumers to create, interact, share, collaborate, or build communities.”
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(3i) » What’s your definition of a Web 2.0 company? on 15 Aug 2006 at 2:32 pm
[…] An interesting question posed by Dave Forde on his blog recently. There doesn’t appear to be a definitive answer, which I suspect has a lot to do with the perspective you approach Web 2.0 from. Dave’s looking for your thoughts which he’ll compile and see if there is a consensus. […]
Web 2.0 Certification - Your kidding right? at Da Forde on 02 Sep 2006 at 11:58 am
[…] After all, what is Web 2.0? A few weeks ago I asked a few folks and each one of them had a different answer. If people like Om Malik & Dave Winer who’ve been around the block for a bit (no, not saying they’re old, just “experienced” at the web) have completely different definitions then what could certification be based on? Who’s going to endorse it, Microsoft, Google, Yahoo? Will it start showing up on job applications? […]
Webwalker » Blog Archive » How Do You Define Web 2.0? on 22 Feb 2007 at 11:57 am
[…] Tamera at 3i points me to Dave Forde’s post trying to synthesize a working definition of a Web 2.0 company. I have mentioned before that I get a different defintion from everyone I ask, but realized that I hadn’t given one of my own. In the interests of not re-wording what others have ably articulated I will offer the following defintion in the hopes that David will include this: […]