> What do you mean by Web 2.0?
There are several aspects to it – the functionality, the display, and the social implications. Gmail and Flickr were probably some of the first websites to produce features now standard in all “Web 2.0” sites. Basically, if you have a clean, CSS-based interface, and you have newer features like:
– tagging
– tagclouds
– rss/feeds
– social commenting
– use of AJAX
then you will probably be labeled a “Web 2.0” site. For investors, they see it as a second Internet bubble, and are once again throwing money into startups even faster than during the “Dot Bomb.” Why? Because Web 2.0 sites have detached themselves from the normal way of doing things on the Web, and instead focus on clean interfaces and interactive functionality. They are cousins of the blog, which appeared about the same time. They are “trend-setting” and attract a lot of new visitors in a short amount of time.
Here’s a list of the “founding fathers” of Web 2.0:
mail.google.com – AJAX webmail
www.flickr.com – social photo site (photo streams, tagging, comments)
del.icio.us – social bookmarking
Go to www.techcrunch.com for a blog that keeps track of nearly every Web 2.0 startup.