A simple overview, from my perspective, of what web2.0 is actually all about and the reasons why it has taken off in the way it has.

1. what is web2.0?

2. "Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform." Tim O'Reilly

4. But for most people web2.0 actually equates to just a handful of enabling technologies and websites… Wikis Blogs RSS Tagging Podcasts AJAX Mashups (emerging)

5. web2.0 has become the phenomena it has because…

6. It has enabled a read/write web for the masses. Rather than what used to be a read-only web for the majority of people. 1

7. It has allowed people to easily make connections they would not otherwise have been able to make. To content of interest. To people and/or groups of interest. 2

8. It has provided a ‘self-service’ web. Where ease-of-accessibility is quick, painless, easy and (normally) free. Go to site > sign-up > use 3

9. It has provided some of the easiest-to-use software, ever! Simple is excellent. No ‘gold-plating’ designed to generate revenue and facilitate needless upgrades. 4

10. It has been fuelled by ‘cottage industry’. From people who’ve normally started by building something for their own use or for their friends. So they see it, and build it, from the users perspective , without the baggage of marketing departments! 5

11. It has enabled unbounded creativity; in writing and journalism, design, video, audio, and all of it DIY. Anybody can unleash their creative urges. Use the various cheap online stock libraries to find the building blocks (image, animation, movie, sound, music) to express yourself. Cheap and cheerful is now acceptable, as long as the content is good . 6

12. You get to see the ‘human face’. Rather than the faceless corporation. Honesty. Transparency. 7