Web 2.0
“The cake is a lie!”
Web 2.0 is also a lie! Its not something you can buy from a store, you cant pirate it from a torrent site. Yes, you can go buy the shirt, (I don’t even know what the shirt is saying!) but at the end of the day, Web 2.0 is not something I can put my sweaty hands on . . or is it.
You see, Web 2.0 doesn’t actually exist in the way that Photoshop CS3 or Word 7.1 does. It is more of a ‘perceived second generation on “The Web”. In the ‘old days’ the internet was more like a public library. A place where is was all look and don’t touch, where the all powerful web designers and overlords gave us online content and we, like hungry little children suckling on the technology teat, devoured the rancid milk that was Web 1.0. But then something changed….
Web 1.0 children became the grown ups. We weren’t happy with Web 1.0 anymore, we were tired of looking but not touching and that’s why we forged ahead and created a new world order of Internet interactivity. The web became less like a public library and more like the back alleys and toilet walls of the big city. All the Web 1.0 kiddies had a voice and Facebook, Twitter and Myspace gave us the ability to tell everyone in the world, at the top of our voice . .
“I’m at Subway eating a steak and cheese melt”
You see, the concept behind Web 2.0 is all about communication, information sharing and collaboration. These days everyone has a voice and the chance to voice their opinions, and then others take those opinions and combine it with other peoples opinions with the use of API’s and then the next thing you know Metacritic can tell us that “The Lonely Island” CD has a ‘metacritic’ score of 7.1 out of 10 as based on 8 user reviews. Rolling Stone Magazine, The New York Times, Billboard, the giants that used to be “the word” on reviews don’t seem as important anymore. Who cares if one individual from a corporate giant told us that Dark Knight was ”an enthralling second instalment” when 1575 people just like me had something else to say. That’s right, I can be an individual on the internet - - just like everyone else…?
Web 2.0 isn’t just about hordes upon hordes of people screaming out to the universe and wearing emo clothes and displaying your ‘edgy’ photography of your 14 year old friend half dressed in her best Goth gear and vacant yet somewhat confused glare. No, it does other cool stuff too.
Web 2.0 is about the ‘long tail’ approach. Content that was once created and met with thunderous applause and sales and then faded into obscurity can now experience a form of ongoing life (Hey, how else would I have gotten my hands on Bruce Willis’ “The Return of Bruno” CD?). Sure, Sanity didn’t have a copy (Does Sanity have copies of ANYTHING decent), a fact which I’m sure if they had infinite shelf space that would have had that CD and everything “The Hoff” ever committed to record, but Amazon does have this luxury, so music sins of the past can be passed on from generation to generation.
Web 2.0 has a look and a feel about it. We have mash-ups, remixes and a certain design element where things are shiny and new, full of vibrant colours, sexy contours and reflective surfaces.
How can YOU get involved in Web 2.0? You ARE involved in Web 2.0 right now Billy. Reading a blog and leaving a comment, digging it and twittering about this amazing piece of writing while telling all your friends about it on facebook, creating fan art based on my likeness and posting it to deviantart and then making an artistic reply video about my thoughts and posting it on Youtube, you clever little fellow. Enjoy, before Web 3.0 sees you hooked up naked in pods full of some gelatinous goo while your life force is being fed to our robotic enslavers…….
