I frequently get asked what exactly is Web 2.0? The phrase was first used by Tim O’Reilly in 2003 when attempting to explain the new generation of web applications being developed after the Internet bubble burst of 2001. To O’Reilly, the bust signified a turning point for the web, and thus the term Web 2.0 was born. The term gained popularity with the first Web 2.0 Conference in 2004 and has gained momentum ever since.

But what exactly identifies one application as Web 1.0 and another as Web 2.0? The debate is still out. Some will say that Web 2.0 is nothing more than a meaningless buzzword while others work towards establishing official Web 2.0 specifications.

Technologies such as blogs, podcasts, RSS feeds, wikis and Web APIs are typically classified as being Web 2.0. Tim O’Reilly himself considers Web 2.0 as developing applications around the unique features of the web instead of trying to make the web confirm to the applications. Examples he provides include Craigslist, Wikipedia, eBay, del.icio.us, Skype and Google Adsense.

As you can see, with no real set of standards, Web 2.0 can mean a variety of things to different people. So, the answer to the question “what exactly is Web 2.0” still remains undecided.