Web 2.0

Second-generation online web-based communities and hosted services like social networking and bookmarking sites, and user-content-generated wiki sites are collectively referred to as the Web 2.0. These sites and services promote an increased collaboration among the online community to promote creativity and sharing of ideas and information.

Web 2.0 is not a technical standard or platform, but simply a term used to define the trends becoming prominent on the Internet. Though some technology experts like Tim Berners-Lee, who is credited with inventing the World Wide Web, question the use of the term, claiming that the original Internet already had those properties, these attributes are much more prominent now than before.

Many proponents of the Internet are trying to expand the concept by creating web programming interfaces to push web-only software right to the user's browser. This means that, contrary to the traditional approach in which a user downloads and installs software to his local machine, software is now provided as a service and is presented through Web-based delivery methods like a browser. This results in a more dynamic and customizable environment, accessible from anywhere. Users can interact and share information online, and the site provides services to facilitate such collaboration by making the data available to all participants. Thus, users can generate and own content on a Web 2.0 site.

Though Web 2.0 is not by itself a standard, it is proving to be a driving force for creation of new technology and standards to promote easy sharing and publishing of data online, putting the control of the data in the user's hands as opposed to the Web site.

With the growing use and acceptance of Web 2.0 technologies, increased laxness in maintaining privacy has been observed on the Internet. People are becoming less reluctant to disclose personal information on the Internet, instead taking it as a matter of course. For example, people don't think twice about publishing personal information on blogs or social networking sites. This information could be used by identity thieves to steal information like credit card numbers and commit fraud using the victim's name. For more information on these subjects, refer to the articles at this site on identity theft and data theft.