Web 2.0 websites allow users to do more than just retrieve information. By increasing what was already possible in "Web 1.0", they provide the user with more user-interface, software and storage facilities, all through their browser. This has been called "network as platform" computing.[2] Major features of Web 2.0 include social networking sites, user created web sites, self-publishing platforms, tagging, and social bookmarking. Users can provide the data that is on a Web 2.0 site and exercise some control over that data.[2][15] These sites may have an "architecture of participation" that encourages users to add value to the application as they use it.[1][2] Some scholars have put forth cloud computing as an example of Web 2.0 because cloud computing is simply an implication of computing on the Internet.[16]
The concept of Web-as-participation-platform captures many of these characteristics. Bart Decrem, a founder and former CEO of Flock, calls Web 2.0 the "participatory Web"[17] and regards the Web-as-information-source as Web 1.0.
Web 2.0 offers all users the same freedom to contribute. While this opens the possibility for serious debate and collaboration, it also increases the incidence of "spamming" and "trolling" by unscrupulous or misanthropic users. The impossibility of excluding group members who don’t contribute to the provision of goods from sharing profits gives rise to the possibility that serious members will prefer to withhold their contribution of effort and free ride on the contribution of others.[18] This requires what is sometimes called radical trust by the management of the website. According to Best,[19] the characteristics of Web 2.0 are: rich user experience, user participation, dynamic content, metadata, web standards and scalability. Further characteristics, such as openness, freedom[20] and collective intelligence[21] by way of user participation, can also be viewed as essential attributes of Web 2.0.
"Wordle - Create word clouds Zooburst - Create 3D books Glogster - Create posters Image Chef - Create posters Picnik - Edit your photos and add special effects BeFunky - Edit your photos and add special effects Storybird - Create collaborative stories Dipity - Create your own timelines Voki - Create a character, and add voice Photovisi - Quickly upload your photos and create collages BigHugeLabs - Use your photos to create puzzles, posters, magazine covers, CD covers, slideshows, etc. Toondoo - Create comic strips Zimmer Twins - Create an animated movie Blabberize - Create talking pictures JibJab - Create eCards and pictures with your photos Fun Face Cam! - Take funny photos with your webcam"
