Web 2.0 definition
Through a Luis Suarez Blog post, I have found a presentation by Mike Roche from IBM titled Bringing People and Processes Together. In this presentation, IBM explains what has been doing in the area of KM and how it is embracing social software within the enterprise with a number of different Web 2.0 related tools.
For me, the interesting part is, IMHO, one of the best definitions I’ve heard about Web 2.0:
Web 1.0 was about connecting computers and making information more readily available
Web 2.0 is about connecting people and amplifying the power of working together
And their main characteristics:
- Easy, responsive, browser-based interfaces (“AJAX”)
- The “social” factor – users make the software better
- Tagging – using simple keywords to build up rich categorization without a fixed taxonomy
- Feeds – RSS and Atom allow users to download content from the internet on-demand
- Simple extensions allow people to use web-services from their familiar tools
- Public web service APIs enabling decentralized innovation
- Early deployment, iterative improvement based on usage data
- Tends to have a viral adoption pattern
Comments
Comment by Luis Suarez on 2006-12-05 18:37:14 +0000
Hi Ferdy ! Thanks a lot for the feedback comments and for the trackback to my weblog post. Yes, indeed, that is certainly one of my favourite Web 2.0 / social computing quotes out of the several dozens I have been exposed to thus far. I have actually weblogged about it not long ago in my other Internet weblog under the title: Web 2.0 in Search of Better Definition or Just Moving On
May be worth while a read, too. Either way, I have really enjoyed the summary you have put together on what Web 2.0 is all about as it can certainly be very enlightening for those folks new to this movement. Thus thanks again for that !
Comment by Ferdy on 2006-12-06 00:43:00 +0000
Luis, I appreciate your comment. And thanks for the link to your other Internet weblog post, I have found it very interesting.
I agree with you that everyone needs to find their own definition. If you want to embrace some initiatives related to Web 2.0 in your enterprise, you must explain it properly and in a convincing way. This is the reason why I’m trying to find a definition that “fits” in my enterprise.
Comment by Luis Suarez on 2006-12-06 19:30:34 +0000
That is terrific, Ferdy, and certainly you are not alone in trying to figure it out ! I think that we are witnessing an era where more and more of our knowledge workers really are keen on sharing their knowledge and collaborate with others, but most of the times the technology presents a whole lot more barriers than whatever you would have possibly ever imagined. Something that social software is trying to help prevent from the start.
However, with that said, we should not forget that we should also be proactive in helping pave the road so that even though social software may not be that difficult to adopt we would still be able to provide the necessary support, training and facilitation to those folks who may struggle initially.
That way, the more we help provide a comfortable environment for knowledge workers to share what they know, the much better off it would be for all of us. And if that means letting people find their own definition for social computing then let it be. Let’s just focus in what really matters: knowledge sharing and collaborating.
Thanks again for the feedback!
