New Wave Library

You say you want a revolution
Well you know
We all want to change the world*

Web 2.0 has been this buzz word; buzzing around and delivering the sensation of something new and exciting, and promising: things are going to change, the Internet is going to change, the world is going to change, nothing is going to be the same again. Now, when Web 2.0 has been around for a while the question ought to be asked: how radically did the Internet (and the world) indeed change? Did we see a revolution happen right in front of our eyes? Or have we been witnessing a more subtle evolution?
The heart of Web 2.0 is its participatory nature. The sheer amount of a user created content that exists in today’s online environment is unprecedented. Web 2.0 utterly succeeded in enabling virtually anyone (with a computer and an internet connection) to publish their ideas and creations online. But when we look some years back into the stone age of the Internet we still can find people sharing their ideas via the means of the Internet. Yes, on a much smaller scale and in a much more cumbersome way. But still, users created their own websites to share themselves with the world (I used to have one too) and communicated with others via email.
Of course, blogs, instant messaging, social networking software epitomize another level of online participation. And I admit I simply cannot get enough of some of the cool applications Web 2.0 gave to us. (Recently, I discovered del.icio.us. So much better than ancient bookmarks. And so much easier to share.) Still, it is my personal belief that Web 2.0 perfected (albeit, in a very impressive way) what the Internet has always been about: connection.

* John Lennon/Paul McCartney