Web 2.0 Definition and Hype

 

I do get very fed up with the Web 2.0 hype and also all the people who complain about the Web 2.0 hype (which now would include me). I think that the only way of fixing this is to have a crisp definition of what Web 2.0 is and then when a piece of hype defines itself as "Web 2.0" then we can just say that it doesn't meet the definition and move on.

 

I think that Tim's definition at https://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2005/10/web_20_compact_definition.html is pretty good but it is a bit wordy and verbose, certainly for me to remember. Trying to net his definition down to a few key, memorable bullets I get the following five:

 

Network and devices as a platform

Data consumption and remixing from all sources including user generated data

Continuous update

Rich and interactive UI

Architecture of participation

 

Does this seem reasonable? Can we use these to categorize if an application is Web 2.0 or not? Thinking about the major Web 2.0 applications out there and indeed the major Web 1.0 , SOA, ASP or SaaS based applications it does seem to work.