Yesterday, I used 'Web 2.0' as an adjective. I was speaking with a friend about this new site and I said, “It looks very Web 2.0-y.”
My word choice was immediately called into question.
What is the proper adjective here? Web 2.0-esque? Web 2.0-ish? When a new word is coined, if it is legit and sticks, then its can be used as different parts of speech (like how Google is both a noun and a verb). Or, the world can really be full of hype and decent people don’t even want to say it (himbo, mouse potato). So, what’s the deal with Web 2.0?
Basecamp, a task management interface, recently asked its users to define Web 2.0. Some of my favorites are:
“Mostly hype.”
“Flickr, Basecamp etc.”
“People who know how to use Photoshop ;-). For me its interconnectivity between online services. (RSS, Tagging, etc.)”
“A world free of its dependence on all things Microsoft! ;-)”
“user generated content. real time site upadating. Modular sites.”
And the list goes on. I don’t have the qualifications to make a definite pronouncement of what Web 2.0 is , but I do know that this site looks and works differently than this site. Here’s a link to a Flickr photostream where some designers have 2.0-ed some 1.0 logos. My favorite is Shell.
But it has to be more than sweet logos with a little flare. The new web is about connecting people with people and ideas. MySpace, Facebook, blogs, social networking sites, web based applications, saving things to servers in remote locations, the ability for me to read about the lives of Israeli mothers as they type about their experiences in real time – all of this is powerful because people are being connected with people and their stories.
For the better part of the last 4 months, I’ve been working on a dream, and within the next week, this dream will become a reality. I believe in the ability of people to do good, and I believe that when you get a lot of people doing a lot of good things, revolution can happen. Come along for the journey:
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