Blogs, wikis, social networking, folksonomies, user generated content, websites as application platforms… with all the hype surriounding Web 2.0 these days a little clarity is welcome.

Logically you can start with Tim O’Reilly’s definition since he’s the ones who coined the the term. For an update, the Pew Internet & American Life Project’s October 5th, 2006 report Riding the Waves of Web 2.0 puts it in perspective: “Web 2.0” has become a catch-all buzzword that people use to describe a wide range of online activities and applications… As researchers, we instinctively reach for our spreadsheets to see if there is evidence to inform the hype about any online trend… Let’s get a few things clear right off the bat. 1) Web 2.0 does not have anything to do with Internet2. 2) Web 2.0 is not a new and improved internet network operating on a separate backbone. And 3) It is OK if you’ve heard the term and nodded in recognition, without having the faintest idea of what it really means.” Article continues here…

Of course all this talk about Web 2.0 begs the question is Web 3.0 next, and if it is what is it? According to Tim Berners Lee, “People keep asking what Web 3.0 is. I think maybe when you’ve got an overlay of scalable vector graphics - everything rippling and folding and looking misty - on Web 2.0 and access to a semantic Web integrated across a huge space of data, you’ll have access to an unbelievable data resource.”