What is Web 2.0?

Web 2.0 describes World Wide Web websites that emphasize user-generated content, usability, and interoperability (this means that a website can work well with other products, systems, and devices) for end users. Web 2.0 does not refer to an update to any technical specification, but to changes in the way Web pages are designed and used.

A Web 2.0 website may allow users to interact and collaborate with each other in a social media dialogue as creators of user-generated content in a virtual community, in contrast to the first generation of Web 1.0-era websites where people were limited to the passive viewing of content. Examples of Web 2.0 features include social networking sites and social media sites (e.g., Facebook), blogs, wikis, folksonomies (“tagging” keywords on websites and links), video sharing sites (e.g., YouTube), hosted services, Web applications (“apps”), collaborative consumption platforms, and mash-up applications.

Features of Web 2.0:

• Wikis: Websites that enable users to contribute, collaborate and edit site content. Wikipedia is one of the oldest and best-known wiki-based sites.
• The increasing prevalence of Software as a Service (SaaS), web apps and cloud computing rather than locally-installed programs and services.
• Mobile computing, also known as nomadicity, the trend toward users connecting from wherever they may be. That trend is enabled by the proliferation of smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices in conjunction with readily accessible Wi-Fi networks.
• Mash-ups: Web pages or applications that integrate complementary elements from two or more sources.
• Social networking: The practice of expanding the number of one’s business and/or social contacts by making connections through individuals. Social networking sites include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+.
• Collaborative efforts based on the ability to reach large numbers of participants and their collective resources, such as crowdsourcing, crowdfunding and crowdsource testing.
• User-generated content (UGC): Writing, images, audio and video content — among other possibilities — made freely available online by the individuals who create it.
• Unified communications (UC): The integration of multiple forms of call and multimedia/cross-media message-management functions controlled by an individual user for both business and social purposes.
• Social curation: The collaborative sharing of content organized around one or more particular themes or topics. Social content curation sites include Reddit, Digg, Pinterest, and Instagram.

Check out the following list of web 2.0 sites and enjoy an easier way for building links for SEO purposes: