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Web 2.0: second generation web design

No sooner do I turn around than the old HTML static sites seem to be a thing of the past. Now, just as I finished writing about 3rd generation mobiles, I start reading about 2nd generation web sites.

Blogs started it all. Every person had a blog. It was easy and free. People could comment on what you had written and a community developed on some of them. The idea of having communities on the net grew.

The concept of Web 2.0 started as a conference brainstorming session between O'Reilly and MediaLive International. During their discussion, they analyzed the companies that had survived the dot-com collapse. Many of these companies had quite a few things in common. O'Reilly and MediaLive believed there was a future for web sites which had these attributes in common. And therefore, Web 2.0 was born.

So, what is it?

Wikipedia defines Web 2.0 as:

"The term Web 2.0 refers to a second generation of services available on the World Wide Web that lets people collaborate and share information online. In contrast to the first generation, Web 2.0 gives users an experience closer to desktop applications than the traditional static Web pages. Web 2.0 applications often use a combination of techniques devised in the late 1990s, including public web service APIs (dating from 1998), Ajax (1998), and web syndication (1997). They often allow for mass publishing (web-based social software). The concept may include blogs and wikis."

So far no-one has defined exactly what Web 2.0 is, but there are a few common attributes that often describe this new culture. These concepts have already existed in sites like Flickr, del.icio.us, Wikipedia, Amazon reviews, and the eBay reputation system.

Web 2.0 is built on a system of collective knowledge. It provides a social communication for web users, empowering the individual and giving them an outlet for their opinions to be heard. However, we have only seen a small glimpse of the effects of these new transitions. Del.icio.us, Digg amd Myspace are just the beginning of what will soon become a much more interactive Web. Slashdot is for computer nerds.

Sites that are embracing Web 2.0 can also often be identified by their tag clouds. They are used prominently on del.icio.us, Technorati, and Flickr. A tag cloud is basically a visual depiction of the content on a website. More popular tags are shown in a larger font.

 

Here's another idea: build a community toolbar.

Netjaxer is an easy way to integrate your favourite web applications into Windows.
Create a desktop or quick launch icon.
Load any web page when Windows starts and run it as a tray icon.

Useful for all the web 2.0 applications

ClipMarks.com is a social bookmarking site with a twist. Users find clipworthy news, facts, stories and images on the web and then share specific clips versus pages.

Zimbio is a community site to help you research and learn about any topic Want to save time and learn with others? Browse existing portals Your topic isn't covered yet? Start a new portal today

Original signal

Dapper a new service which makes it easy to extract content from any website

Photub is a directory of the best photography resources online

Start a Poll - It's Easy! Search What does PollPub do? Create your own free polls and contests with PollPub! Post free public polls and view opinions from around the world! Or, post a private poll and select who views and who votes! PollPub also lets you add polls and run contests from your blog, myspace page or website.

AND for almost everything else you can think of there's allthingsweb2 and 3spots

I'm getting tired of listing them. Besides most of these web 2.0 sites are really for the young.

Want your own tag cloud?

They provide your visitor with a search tool that helps them to find your content quickly and easily. You can create your own tag cloud with a very simple service called Eurekster Swicki. This is a community-based search engine that creates free tag clouds for web sites.

Web 2.0 is essentially about a transition in the way we experience the Internet. The new Ajax programming base allows web masters to create an architecture of participation for their users. Web 2.0 refers to the ongoing transition to full participation on the Web.

Another new web concept has been described as Citizen media. At YouTube you can upload your videos. These sort of sites are not like the illegal file sharing sites to download music. You can only upload your information.

Here is a YouTube video about web 2.0

 

MP3 Advance is a legal site from which you can download music

At My space you talk to each other or share your blogs.

I've recently also found a site where I can upload photos.

I've done this before on an individual site, but on this one I can get paid for my photos if they sell. Read about how to upload to stock photo sites here.

Need some quick web design tutorials? Or view the next generation design features

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© Jenny Campbell