Web 2.0: Definition

After much research and exploration, it is clear that narrowing the definition of Web 2.0 involves many facets of elements and different layers of information. Thus, Web 2.0 is not a simple topic.

In a nutshell, it is believed that Web 1.0 can be described as connecting computers and allowing technology to be more efficient for computers. Web 2.0 on the other hand can be said to target people;  connecting them and making technology more efficient for them. The Web has grown into a platform for innovative ideas and executions spanning an array of devices and media, including TV, mobile and telephone.

A much more technical meaning in its compact form can be seen by Tim O'Reilly (Founder and CEO of O'Reilly Media) (Source: http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2005/10/web-20-compact-definition.html).

O'Reilly states: "Web 2.0 is the network as platform, spanning all connected devices; Web 2.0 applications are those that make the most of the intrinsic advantages of that platform: delivering software as a continually-updated service that gets better the more people use it, consuming and remixing data from multiple sources, including individual users, while providing their own data and services in a form that allows remixing by others, creating network effects through an "architecture of participation," and going beyond the page metaphor of Web 1.0 to deliver rich user experiences".