Finding Web 2.0

Web 2.0 has been poked and prodded, dissected and criticized. It took Tim O'Reilly 8900 words to attempt to describe it. However, in my humble blog, I am going to focus on two key elements of Web 2.0 – Community and Information Organization. Both categories contain sub elements that describe most of the elements of Web 2.0.

The most commonly known function of Web 2.0 in the community theme is social networking. MySpace and Facebook are the most popular sites, indeed the stated function of each site is for users to meet friends and make connections, based on schools, jobs, and other common interests. Blogs also contribute to this social networking function. Users communicate through their blogs, they make note of blogs they enjoy reading. Sometimes relationships are formed between bloggers through a culture of commenting and responding to posts.

Community doesn’t just mean social networking and blogging. Users are also collaborators. In Web 2.0 this takes a number of forms. We have those who rewrite open-source code and create things like mashups. We have tagging of links and reviews in places like del.icio.us and amazon.com that make it easier for other people to find information. Users now have a stake in the way information is organized, in the way companies produce their products. Consumers become producers.

So Web 2.0 is social and collaborative. Users affect the way businesses provide services to the masses. In fact, corporations must provide this functionality, they must allow users the ability to change and adapt, to make the service function on their own terms. If they don’t, users will simply find another place to do business. So how does this impact the new way information is organized and provided in the Web 2.0 world?

With the advent of blogs and RSS feeds, information became more dynamic. Sites are continually being updated. Instead of having to check back on their favorite sites again and again, users merely have to subscribe to an RSS feed. In one easy location, a user can quickly see what has been updated. Also, they don't need to deal with information they are not interested in. They only subscribe to the content they want to read.

Content in the Web 2.0 era is made to be shared. For example, Flickr enables users to give their photos creative commons licenses, so that they may be shared across websites. As O'Reilly says in the above article, places like amazon.com or google maps may license the same data that other static sites use, but they alter and add to the information, changing it and making it more useful to their consumers.

Finally, the use of tags, labels or other folksonomies are changing the way content is organized. Instead of static subject terms determined by a group of librarians at the Library of Congress information is being marked up by the users themselves. Instead of something esoteric like: "Dogs--Behavior--New Jersey--Montclair--Anecdotes" someone could tag a photo or link "dogs" "cute" "training" or with any thing to make it easier for the people who actually deal with the data to find. In sites like del.icio.us where users tag links and share them, a link can have an extensive and complex string of tags. Users can see what tags fellow users have assigned a link and choose whether or not to use that terminology. This is a powerful change in information organization. In fact some libraries are now using tags in their own library catalogs, as you can see in this example from the East Brunswick Public Library.

The one service that really epitomizes these features of Web 2.0 is something called Library Thing. When I first joined Library Thing a few years ago, it was billed as a way to catalog one's personal book collection. It pulled from amazon.com as well as the Library of Congress to obtain records for each book. Since that time, Library Thing has evolved to partake in some of the best features of Web 2.0.

First, Library Thing is social. Users tag their books, and can see other titles other users have tagged with the same term. This is a good way to find books on the same genre or theme. Or, users can friend others with similar interests, also giving them another way to access new and interesting titles to read. Users post reviews of books, giving them ratings. And of course, there is a message board function for further discussion.

Second, Library Thing gives users advanced functionality, allowing them to use data supplied by amazon or the Library of Congress in interesting ways. It can either be used as a record of books one owns, books someone wants to read, or books recommended for a particular project. Library Thing allows users to subscribe to an RSS feed for a particular user. Once again, users access only the information they want to. They can see the books I add to my profile or just my reviews or just reviews of my books written by other users. I can incorporate my library thing on my blog, which I've done on the left hand side.

In this post on Serendipity35's blog, he talks about ways the web will change. Library Thing is certainly interactive and collaborative. It makes connections between users within its framework and also allows users to connect in other frameworks, ie by posting a widget on their blogs. There is also the chance for misuse. Who owns the book review I post on my account? Do I or does Library Thing? Library Thing can post links to my review as an example of their services and there's nothing I can do to stop it. Others can take my words and use them on their blogs or webpages, perhaps even the author of said book will snatch my words for a blurb. Who owns my work? This is a risk and something all users need to be aware of in the new web.

However, since collaboration and sharing are hallmarks of Web 2.0, perhaps the idea of copyright and ownership of words and ideas will change. Although the more users seek to distribute and share content, the more organizations like the RIAA will attempt to hold on to what they see as their intellectual property - their economic future. They will eventually need to change in order to keep up with the changes brought about by Web 2.0. There is still money to be made. Library Thing for example, offers users a paid account option, as well as the free service. Blogs with Library Thing widgets link directly to amazon.com pages, surely boosting their sales. There are still ways to make money in the Web 2.0 economy, but corporations need to do so within the new framework of free thought and ideas.