Web 2.0 can be described in three parts:
- Rich Internet application (RIA) — defines the experience brought from desktop to browser whether it is from a graphical point of view or usability point of view.
- Web-oriented architecture (WOA) — is a key piece in Web 2.0,which defines how Web 2.0 applications expose their functionality so that other applications can leverage and integrate the functionality providing a set of much richer applications. Examples are feeds, RSS, Web Services, mash-ups.
- Social Web — defines how Web 2.0 tends to interact much more with the end user and make the end-user an integral part.
As such, Web 2.0 draws together the capabilities of client- and server-side software, content syndication and the use of network protocols. Standards-oriented Web browsers may use plug-ins and software extensions to handle the content and the user interactions. Web 2.0 sites provide users with information storage, creation, and dissemination capabilities that were not possible in the environment now known as “Web 1.0”.
Web 2.0 sites include the following features and techniques, referred to as the acronym SLATES by Andrew McAfee:
- Search
- Finding information through keyword search.
- Links
- Connects information together into a meaningful information ecosystem using the model of the Web, and provides low-barrier social tools.
- Authoring
- The ability to create and update content leads to the collaborative work of many rather than just a few Web authors. In wikis, users may extend, undo and redo each other’s work. In blogs, posts and the comments of individuals build up over time.
- Tags
- Categorization of content by users adding “tags” — short, usually one-word descriptions — to facilitate searching, without dependence on pre-made categories. Collections of tags created by many users within a single system may be referred to as “folksonomies” (i.e., folktaxonomies).
- Extensions
- Software that makes the Web an application platform as well as a document server. These include software like Adobe Reader, Adobe Flash, Microsoft Silverlight, ActiveX,Oracle Java, QuickTime, Windows Media, etc.
- Signals
- The use of syndication technology, such as RSS to notify users of content changes.
While SLATES forms the basic framework of Enterprise 2.0, it does not contradict all of the higher level Web 2.0 design patterns and business models. In this way, a new Web 2.0 report from O’Reilly is quite effective and diligent in interweaving the story of Web 2.0 with the specific aspects of Enterprise 2.0. It includes discussions of self-service IT, the long tail of enterprise IT demand, and many other consequences of the Web 2.0 era in the enterprise. The report also makes many sensible recommendations around starting small with pilot projects and measuring results, among a fairly long list.
WEB 2.0 