Web 2.0. It�s Not an Upgrade…well, not technically

Posted on August 22, 2006
Filed Under General Tech

The following is a recent article I submitted for the quarterly magazine for The Oregon Ministry Network.

As your quarterly purveyor of all the new terms and technologies related to The Web, it�s fitting that I should explain the relatively new buzzword word that is rapidly growing in popularity. What�s interesting about the phrase �Web 2.0� is that it has no basis in an actual version-esque upgrade. Internet Explorer has Internet Explorer 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0…and now 7.0 (with plenty of point-somethings to follow - 7.1, 7.2, 7.3…). This version language is quite common with software to help indicate whether or not you are using the latest and greatest version.

So, Web 2.0 has nothing to do with an actual, definable version upgrade. What does that mean? What is Web 2.0 and why should you even bother? Well, in ministry and especially in light of my work melding technology and ministry together, I can ill-afford to miss anything in the development of web-technologies and how they impact society and the church. Web 2.0 is no exception.

Web 2.0 is essentially a model for how many recent web technologies interact with their users.

Original web-sites were what we refer to as static pages meaning that someone created a page with the content placed on each subsequent page. Websites were meant to provide information and if someone wanted to change that information, then a web programmer had to update the code and update the web page(s) on the website.

The more recent trend has been the use of dynamic pages which is a method of providing content on a website that is pulling from different sources making it possible to utilize back-end databases with content and information that a website can pull up when it�s loaded. This makes it possible for more people to be able to add and edit content on a regular basis.

Web 2.0 is about incorporating community or user-interactivity to create an even more robust collection of information. Instead of just a few users contributing to the content of a website, a typical Web 2.0 site uses the input of thousands or even millions of users to create a wealth of information in one place. Another term used for Web 2.0 is �Participatory Web� and the name speaks for itself - users now become active content contributors.

Common examples of this being used would be blogs and wikis that offer such features as tags, commenting and even advanced editing. Other Web 2.0 sites offer things like rankings and options to talk back to contributors. The overall idea behind Web 2.0 is that they emphasize user interaction making the overall content heavily user-generated rather than driven by the actual website developers themselves. It�s a new model that many popular sites are using on different levels but it�s a model that is increasing as web users continue to become more comfortable online and thus demand more interactivity with each other and the websites they frequent.

It�s a great model and although it has it�s drawbacks, such as lack of filters related to truth and propriety (when everyone has the ability to contribute, there WILL be a fair amount of misinformation), the advantages are immense in that it increases the level of community a website can offer.

For the church, this trend means that we need to look beyond the traditional method of our websites as just providing basic information like service times and a few posed portraits of our pastors and look forward to a future where our churches are connected 24/7. As church members demand more and more interactivity with their websites, we must be forging ahead to utilize the tools and find new ways to engage our people. The great news is that you can utilize a lot of free or inexpensive solutions already available within your website to make this interactivity possible.

Examples of Web 2.0 Websites:
(as you visit these sites, notice the amount of user-interaction that exists)
www.wikipedia.org
www.digg.com
www.technorati.com
www.flickr.com
http://del.icio.us/
www.craigslist.com
www.amazon.com
www.squidoo.com