What is web 2.0

So what is web 2.0? Is this a new phenomenon.

Answer to the above question is No, this is not new phenomenon. It is the coinage of the terms which refers to collating all the earlier available technology and with which help, a website becomes interactive to all the users.

The major components that go to form a web 2.0 site is blogs, wikipedias, podcasts, RSS feeds, social software and API which provide enhancements over read-only websites. More than ever, instead of using Internet as a layer above the applications, the web 2.0 encourages the usage of the Internet as a platform which allows the different applications to be underlying this platform and provide the user a interactivity to use and he or she wishes to use or view it. For eg, AJAX enables the each user of the multiple user system to customize over the web the usage of the reports.

In simple terms it relates to a transition of the websites, from isolated & an information only sites, to interlinked computing platforms that function like locally-available software in the perception of the user. The inclusion of the social element where the users are encouraged and provided facilities to generate and distribute content, often with freedom to share and re-use creates the interactivity to all the stake holders of these websites.

The best examples of web 2.0 are ebay, flicker, itunes, etc.