Why I Use the Term “Web 2.0″

by Joshua Porter  |   December 20th, 2005  |  shortlink: http://bokardo.com/p/303

I use the term “Web 2.0″ because:

  1. It is easier than saying “all the lessons we’ve learned so far about what works on the web that might be worth paying attention to”.
  2. It signals we’re talking about the Web and newness and something being different than it was before
  3. It represents a change to networked, online applications, services, and APIs.
  4. It’s easy and fast to say and use, and can be used by marketing people, software people, VCs, designers, whomever.
  5. I’m a writer. So it is in my best interest to use terms that people use, and people use the term “Web 2.0″

But if someone doesn’t want to use that term, if they’re somehow offended, if they think it’s an attempt at self-promotion, or to ride some hype wave into prominence, then fine, I’ll use whatever term they want to use.

…as long as we understand each other.

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Comments

1.  Robert 4:09am, Wed 21st, 2005

Exactly my thoughts: why use any other term if we understand eachother perfectly?

2.  Francis Wu 12:01pm, Wed 21st, 2005

I use the term Web 2.0 ’cause it’s faster than saying “Cluetrain for the Web usually with a dose of AJAX”.

3.  Julian 5:32pm, Wed 28th, 2005

Ditto. I am sick of people claiming that the term “Web 2.0″ is a fad, because the technology has been around longer than the term has.

“Web 2.0″ stands for a long list of developments on the internet that change the way we think of the web, use the web, and sell the web.

4.  Charlie Wood 8:45am, Wed 18th, 2006

My wife asked me yesterday what “Web 2.0″ means. I told her that in the 90′s there was the Web boom. Then the boom became a bubble, then the bubble burst. Then there was a 4- or 5-year period of stagnation, both in technology and in the technology industry. Then things started happening again–RSS took off, companies started getting funded again, Google went public, people figured out how to do much cooler UI’s in a browser, big companies started opening up online API’s, and little companies started throwing parties again. That’s Web 2.0.

Like Josh says, call it whatever you want. But if you want me to understand what you’re talking about, just say “Web 2.0″. (Include the quotes if you want to emphasize the fact that you’re not drinking the kool-aid.)

5.  thecreator 5:53am, Tue 31st, 2006

The normal human brain has a max memory retention limit of 10 characters. Web 2.0 fits nicely within that limit. Spread the hype.