Web 2.0 – Social Networking?

Since the dawn of time, every era has had its buzzwords, its nomenclature, its title… And for the last three years we’ve had Web 2.0. Within internet circles, it is the rage to speak of Web 2.0 as the next coming and to define it in terms of “Social Networking.” In other words, a new dawn of the Internet has emerged with the aim being the facilitation of collaboration and sharing between users. Hmmm...

The questions are – Is it really “Social Networking” (or some other coined term)? Or, is it simply the Web of today?

The argument can be raised in either direction, if someone was to exert enough force or information. However, the reality remains that the Web really hasn’t changed. Yeah, sure there are technological advances, and strides have been made to incorporate additional functionality. But in many circumstances, things today are not much different.

So then begs the question – who was the term “Web 2.0” coined for? Is it for the techies who already know that they are living in this era, and that information flowing from one source to another needs a path of least resistance? Or, is it for the non-technophiles who are still using calculators to balance their checkbooks and who think that text messaging is something the kids are doing?

The Internet was created by Al Gore to share information. And since it’s birth, it has grown into the largest, most vast, repository for, and method of SHARING INFORMATION. Maybe it is just the fact that the rest of the world is catching on.