International Encyclopedia of Communication Online

Extract

Web 2.0 is a term → Internet entrepreneur Tim O'Reilly popularized to describe a stage in the development of the world wide web as a platform. It refers to a set of technical changes that allow technically unskilled users to have dynamic interactions on the web, facilitating a broad range of activities in the creation, dissemination, and sharing of digital content. Web 2.0, as an architecture of participation ( O'Reilly 2005 ), frames users as collaborating in the production, shaping, and distribution of → news and → information , rather than passively consuming content that others create (→ Computer–User Interaction ; Interactivity, Concept of ). The urge or ability to create content for media pre-dates the Internet ( McQuail 2005 ). What distinguishes Web 2.0 is the infrastructure it provides for potentially geographically dispersed individuals with common interests to connect and collaborate via the Internet without any central coordination. The new generation of Internet services and devices, often called “social media” in the context of media production and dissemination, includes blogs, wikis, social networking sites, web applications, mashups, and folksonomies (→ Blogger ). The photo-sharing website Flickr.com, the social networking (→ Social Networks ) site Facebook.com, and the user-created encyclopedia Wikipedia.com were prominent Web 2.0 services during the first ... log in or subscribe to read full text