Module 3: Web 2.0

Do yourself a favour and check out this youtube clip.

Web 2.0..The Machine is Us/ing Us

So those of you who regularly check in here will not be surprised to learn that this is another topic which I never knew existed. Web 2.0, I thought was going to be a program I had to learn and comment on, what I discovered, of course is very different.

Basically, Web 2.0 is an "umbrella term" that has been given to the next phase of the Internet. Linking people together by social networking, Chats, Facebook, MySpace, Blogs, a collaborative system that allows us the user to be fundamental in the way we use the Internet and access each other.


I found this Web 2.0 cloud on Wikipedia


Although the term Web 2.0 suggests (at least to me) a new version of the WWW, it does not refer to an update to any technical specifications. Changes in the ways software developers and end-users use the internet is what it is all about.

What is the difference between Internet Communications Blinklist, and the HTML version of the same site? What are the benefits for each?

The major difference to me at first look is the way that the HTML version is presented. To be honest, it took about 2 minutes for me to recognise that it was the same as the previous page I had visited. I liked how easy the information was to follow on the HTML page, and could see myself using this format to search for a particular piece of information.

The first page however is much more my style, but I don't know why. I can see now why the WWW was referred to as "bloatware" in the beginning of this course in reference to telnet. It does fatten the information out with sponsered links, a friends list... but I think that could be used to an advantage with some users.

Had I have searched for a page and come across the html version first, I would have clicked the few topics I needed, gotten the information and moved on. The WWW version I would browse and perhaps stay a while to read at my own leisure, if for no other reason than to find out why particular links had been "blinked" more often than others.

Is it easier to use? More enjoyable to use? Is the layout more functional? When the information contained within both sites is the same, why is it that I prefer to use the more modern looking WWW site? Maybe because its what I am used to, and what I started with. Html is still foreign to me in a way, but that will change with more use.. Firefox took some getting used to, but now I prefer it to Internet Explorer.

In short, I think I like the html version for locating the precise information needed, the advantage to the other, is that in browsing, maybe I would come across some information I would have missed otherwise.