Web 2.0?

Can someone please explain to me what this Web 2.0 business is? From my understanding it is basically an increased level of interactivity with the internet, and other users. I guess what that means to me is that web 2.0 encapsulates a whole lot of what we all do on the internet without realizing it.

The internet used to be static. You would put something online, and people could read/look at it, take what they wanted, and continue on their merry way surfing the internet. These days we have things like Facebook and Myspace (both of which I am an avid user), social bookmarking tools (i.e. del.icio.us and the like), blogs and things such as second life (which I can honestly say I have never even contemplated using, let alone looked at/explored what it does). You can interact with people in a much more personal manner, and let your opinions be known without having to know how to design a website from scratch, and without knowing a dozen different web languages.

I’m only just beginning to understand the uses for certain aspects of the new internet. In particular I am only just beginning to get to know social bookmarking, specifically del.icio.us. I have tried to gain an understanding of it a number of times (I am sure that I have about 10 accounts there), but have never quite been able to integrate it into my daily internet activity. I can understand the uses for it to some extent. It allows you to organize your bookmarks in a much more meaningful way than internet explorer ever will (yes I still use IE, and version 6 no less – I don’t like the new interface or tabbed browsing), and the ability to share your bookmarks with others via the internet, and even remote access to your bookmarks if you are at another computer.

I still can’t get used to using it though. I am much more likely to simply ctrl+D a webpage I want to come back to, and organize my favorites at a later time. It is limiting, but it is what I know, and that makes it much more comfortable to me. I guess that in the end that’s what my lack of understanding of Web 2.0 comes down to, a lack of ability to adapt to the new internet, and almost a fear of it. I can see the uses to it, but I am too comfortable in my habits to want to change.

I guess in the end though, I will have to adapt if I want to keep up with the technologies out there.