If you share your photos on Flickr, you are an active user of Web 2.0. If you have a Facebook or MySpace page, download video from YouTube, subscribe to RSS feeds, or use Wikipedia, you’re also participating in Web 2.0. Web 2.0 describes a new generation of the web, designed around content created by users. High-tech industry people describe Web 2.0 sites as “collaborative”, “participatory and interactive”, “personalized”, or “community-driven” because these sites enable people to go beyond simply reading content provided by others. People can proactively share their interests and ideas with other site visitors.

Blogs, podcasts, dating sites, social and business networks, and mashup sites combining data from multiple sites are all part of Web 2.0. This is in stark contrast to Web 1.0 – still what most sites represent – where the content is created by the site owner and offers little or no opportunity for the site visitor to enter into a dialogue or add their own content. Online banking, e-tail stores, and most corporate web sites are examples of the Web 1.0 world.

Web 2.0 also let you navigate through sites in different ways that can provide a more participatory experience through rich, interactive text and image displays:
• drop down menus that might appear anywhere on the screen
• fly over or pop-up windows
• rollover images that change when you move the mouse over them
• dynamic scrolling menus

All these features enable you to interact with the web site far more than the click-boxes, buttons, and hyperlinks of the typical Web 1.0 site.

Download pdf Securing Web 2.0: Why Security 1.0 is no longer enough