Category - Internet
Topic - Web 2.0
Issue - What is Web 2.0, and what are some of its sites?
Tiptoid -
Web 2.0 is a term used to describe the new generation of web sites and internet technology that has surfaced in the past few years. The main idea behind Web 2.0 is that the content is created by the users, not by some sort of administrator or higher power. As opposed to being a technical upgrade to the web, it is a way that people use the internet differently.
How to identify Web 2.0 websites
There are many websites that are classified as being part of the Web 2.0 wave, mainly due to content (user generated), or technology (such as AJAX, a new website technology). I will list a few websites and resources, and go into detail on some that I hope you find interesting.
LAST. FM
Last.fm is a music-based website that started in August 2005, after a merger with Audioscrobbler, the music tracking website. Last.fm is a great example of Web 2.0, because all the data is generated by the users. A small plug-in is downloaded which tracks the listening data from your music player of choice (almost all are supported). The data is uploaded to the site on your own personal profile.
Last.fm user Ulfs recently played tracks
One of the other big facets of Web 2.0 is tagging. Tagging is where we use a short tag to describe the song, picture, artist, etc. Here is the example for the tagset on last.fm for the band Yo La Tengo.
Last.fm's strength, however, is its recommendations. After you have listened to music for a while, last.fm gives you artist recommendations to check out after it has tracked your weekly top artists.
Recommended Artists for yours truly! These bands sound similar to the ones I listened to often last week.
It also tracks your top listened to artists and tracks, which can be very addicting and interesting to see what you play the most.
Last.fm user Or_Kid's weekly top artists
How to use Web 2.0 features
Learn To Tag (del.icio.us) - After registering, follow the steps on how to get things started. These are outlined very clearly on the website. Remember, in a user-generated site, you make everything! So don't forget to tag websites when you find an interesting or relevant one. The content depends on you.
Some tags are obviously more popular than others. An idea that has popped up in the Web 2.0 wave is a tag cloud.
As you can see, the more popular tags, such as photography, are larger, while lesser used ones such as network are smaller.
(last.fm) - Once you register, to tag anything on last.fm, you go to the page of the items you want to tag (artist, song, album) and simply click on the “tag this” button. A window will pop up where you type your tag in and submit.
DEL.ICIO.US
Del.icio.us is a bookmarking manager and a comprehensive database of websites that users of the site tag, making them searchable on the site. It can be used as an alternative to storing bookmarks on your computer, and it can also be used to find new and interesting websites - generally internet and computer related.
Circled words are the tags for this website
The clean interface and creative, yet simple idea, makes del.icio.us a great example of Web 2.0 technology. You might see the similarities to last.fm in the way the site is designed!
To illustrate how Web 2.0 websites have similar aspects, here's an example of how del.icio.us and last.fm are similar, in the tagging aspect.
This was the most popular site on del.icio.us on March 22, 2007. It is logical that something like online documentaries would generate a lot of buzz.
This was the most popular track among last.fm listeners in the past week. It is also logical that such an (over)hyped new release by a popular band would be heavily listened to.
Tagging is easy and simple. It is one of the most important aspects in Web 2.0, and by using it you will open up a whole new world of possibilities.
Enjoy Web 2.0!
Glossary -
User generated - content that is created by the consumer, not the producer
AJAX - an acronym for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML; web development technique for creating highly interactive applications, including drag-and-drop functionality, which can improve speed and usability
Tagging - using keywords to describe something
Tag cloud – a series of links showing how popular a tag is
Find Out More -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2
http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html
All images used from last.fm and del.icio.us. All last.fm images used with permission of user.
This web page contains links to one or more web pages that are outside the FCPS network. FCPS does not control the content or relevancy of these pages.
Submitted by - Ian Mills
Site Managers - Chris Ricci and Yelser Deleon
April 2007