Web 2.0 – what is it? A practical and realistic definition of Web 2.0

After reading many web sites, discussed with peers, IT professionals, Marketing people, etc, I think I have come across to best possible definition of Web 2.0

I attended an AMCHAM seminar by Dominic Thurbon from the Productivity Project who enlightened the audience with what I believe is the most practical and appropriate definition of Web 2.0.

By the way, the mission of The Productivity Project is to inspire and excite organisational leaders about emerging technology that makes workplaces more accessible, more diverse, more productive and ultimately more profitable.

What Dominic asked the audience was what do the following web sites or solutions have in common: Youtube, Facebook, My Space, Wikipedia, Wikies, Blogs, Twitter, Digg? The answer was clear: User Generated Content. Therefore his definition – and my adopted one is that Web 2.0 is all about user generated content.

In other words, the popularity of these sites have grown because people trust other people and they will make judgement on accuracy, respectability, trust, etc. No longer a “reliable” source is required or a “reputable” commentator is needed to produce a story. People want to do business with people, people want to hear other people in the most natural and realistic way.

There is a huge lesson here for Corporations and a lot to learn on how to maximise the potential of these tools, solutions or applications.

PS. Don’t forget that underlying all of this is Google, with its most basic tool, its search engine, and then many other solutions that take you to all of the Web 2.0 applications, or to hundred of other web sites, which in turn are a great source of information for everyone.