The Web 2.0 Meme Reaches Maturity

It has been nearly two years now since Tim O’Reilly posed the question “What is Web 2.0?” and introduced many to the Web 2.0 meme. Since then there has been much debate about what constitutes Web 2.0, and even if the concept is meaningful.

Unlike past Internet memes, this one won’t go away. It continues to influence new Web applications with a specific language and set of expectations. Here are a few aspects of the Web 2.0 meme that come to mind:

• Simple fixed width layouts; large fonts; large colorful graphics
• “Freemium” business models
• Dynamic, Ajax-driven interfaces
• Mashups integrating with other online services
• Customer self-service
• User-generated content and knowledge sharing
• User-driven tagging and taxonomies to organize information

I’m sure there are many others, but the bottom line is that we have acquired a common understanding, even a common vocabulary, of what constitutes Web 2.0 today. This meme has grown and evolved so that we as Web-based software integrators know exactly what it means to create a Web 2.0 site. This is different from more prosaic, mass-market Internet memes that come and go like the latest trends. Why? I believe the Web 2.0 meme has been driven largely by the Web development community, who have defined and evolved what it means to be Web 2.0.

I won’t say the debate about Web 2.0 is over, but it is a sign of maturity when you can build your own Web 2.0 logo or even create a Web 2.0 site in just a few clicks!

Our little meme has certainly grown up.