The Impact of Web 2.0

1911 Words8 Pages
The Impact of Web 2.0 With the introduction of the World Wide Web in the mid 90s, the accessibility of information grew exponentially. Being connected to the internet suddenly gave people more access to data stores and information than they could have possibly fathomed. As new technological advancements were introduced to the function of the web, the manner in which web usage was approached began to transform. The web shifted from a place where the average user simply sought information, to a place where the average user could access, create and even manipulate data. Web technology had evolved and spawned Web 2.0, and the way we work, socialize, and even communicate has evolved with it. There are many differing descriptions and definitions of Web 2.0, and therefore still much confusion about what exactly it is. This confusion has also led to some staunch criticism of the concept of Web 2.0 as a mere marketing ploy to draw interest in the natural evolution of the pre-existing web concepts. Although the manner in which the changes should be defined, whether by a new or existing name, the fact remains, “we can recognize that the Web has emerged from a medium where a few people centrally determined what all others had to use to one where very many people participate and jointly create and publish content” (Vossen, 81). The primary change came with the interaction of the user, and the effects of that interaction. Social media sites are a clear example Web 2.0 in the sense that MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, and many other sites provide a service that enables the user to create their own page, populate that page with their own data, manipulate that data as desired, and provide access of that page and its content to other users, while also enabling real time communication through data creation and manipulation directly on the site by other users as well. Web
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