Introduction to Web 2.0
The participatory, social second generation of the web.
5-mark Exam Answer
Web 2.0 refers to a set of applications and technologies that enable user-generated content, transforming e-commerce from 2007 onward into a social, mobile, and local phenomenon.
- 1.Definition: applications enabling user-generated content
- 2.Social nature of Web 2.0
- 3.Major categories: social networks, blogs, wikis, sharing sites
- 4.Highly interactive, large audiences
- 5.Foundation for social e-commerce
Beginning in 2007 with the introduction of the iPhone, e-commerce was transformed by the rapid growth of Web 2.0 — a set of applications and technologies that enable user-generated content, including online social networks, blogs, video and photo sharing sites, and wikis. Widespread adoption of mobile devices and the emergence of an on-demand service economy accompanied this transformation.
Web 2.0 applications and services are 'social' in nature because they support communication among individuals within groups or social networks. They rely on user-generated content: regular people, not just experts, create, share, and broadcast content to huge audiences.
Major categories include online social networks (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest), blogs (personal web pages with chronological entries, comments, and links), and wikis (collaboratively editable web pages such as Wikipedia). Video and photo sharing sites such as YouTube and Flickr are also Web 2.0 services.
These applications are inherently highly interactive and attract extremely large audiences, which presents marketers with extraordinary opportunities for targeted marketing and advertising. They form the basis for new advertising platforms and for social e-commerce.
Facebook (1.7 billion monthly active users) and Wikipedia (collaboratively edited by thousands of volunteers) are both classic Web 2.0 platforms built on user-generated content.
Web 2.0 marks the participatory turn of the web: ordinary users create and share content at scale, enabling social e-commerce and reshaping online marketing.
The exam interface follows the university paper pattern: Section A & B carry 5-mark questions; Section C carries objective questions.