What is Web 2.0?

A report written by Paul Anderson of JISC TechWatch on emerging technologies has been made available on the JISC website:

What is Web 2.0? Ideas, technologies and implications for education   (TSW0701)

"...

  Within 15 years the Web has grown from a group work tool   for scientists at CERN into a global information space with more than a   billion users. Currently, it is both returning to its roots as a read/write   tool and also entering a new, more social and participatory phase. These   trends have led to a feeling that the Web is entering a ‘second phase’—a   new, ‘improved’ Web version 2.0. But how justified is this   perception?

  This TechWatch report was commissioned to investigate   the substance behind the hyperbole surrounding ‘Web 2.0’. It reports on the   implications this may have for the UK Higher and Further Education sector,   with a special focus on collection and preservation activities within   libraries.

  The report establishes that Web 2.0 is more than a set   of ‘cool’ and new technologies and services, important though some of these   are. It has, at its heart, a set of at least six powerful ideas that are   changing the way some people interact. Secondly, it is also important to   acknowledge that these ideas are not necessarily the preserve of ‘Web 2.0’,   but are, in fact, direct or indirect reflections of the power of the   network: the strange effects and topologies at the micro and macro level   that a billion Internet users produce.

  The report argues that by separating out the discussion   of Web technologies (ongoing Web development overseen by the W3C), from the   more recent applications and services (social software), and attempts to   understand the manifestations and adoption of these services (the ‘big   ideas’), decision makers will find it easier to understand and act on the   strategic implications of ‘Web 2.0’. Indeed, analysing the composition and   interplay of these strands provides a useful framework for understanding   its significance.

..."

And what are the six powerful ideas behind Web 2.0 that are identified in this report?

1. Individual production and User Generated Content
2. Harnessing the power of the crowd
3. Data on an epic scale
4. Architecture of Participation
5. Network effects, power laws and the Long Tail
6. Open-ness

Towards the end of the report Paul makes three interesting speculations about the future, or Web 3.0 for want of a better term, highlighting current problems with web 2.0 (ones that I have much sympathy with) in relation to privacy and digital trails, identity management and attention span:

"If some of the more negative effects of Web 2.0 have taken hold to a demonstrably detrimental effect, it is quite possible to envisage a situation where 'Web 3.0' would become a backlash to Web 2.0: where software that ‘cleans up’ after you, erasing your digital path through the information space, and identity management services, are at a premium. Where you sell your valuable attention span in blocks of anything from minutes to several hours rather than giving it away for free."