What Is Web 2.0?

What Is Web 2.0?
People using smartphones on subway.
AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon
With Web 2.0, individuals can share with online communities any time, anywhere. What are some pros and cons of increased involvement in online communities?
The term Web 2.0 was coined in 2004. At its most basic level, Web 2.0 allows those who visit Web pages to leave their own content for others to view. Another way to look at it is that Web 1.0 was read-only, while Web 2.0 is read-write. In this case, it is not the programmers or Web designers who are doing the writing. Instead, the writers are “you.” The visitors to Web 2.0 pages are the ones responsible for creating the value and content. The idea was not to create a new Web, but rather, to simply realize the potential of the Web that up until that point had not been achieved (Shuen, 2008). For example, with Web 1.0, you could visit the Web and read a news article. With Web 2.0, you could read that same article and post your own comment on it for everyone else to see. With Web 2.0, you can read and respond in an interactive and open forum.